The Mad Hatter's Daughter
by serima
Summary: Alice and Blood have a baby girl! Where can this lead to? Hopefully not to disaster. On top of that, who can take the once feared Mafia Boss serisously now? Full summary is insdie. This story is not as silly as it sounds, but there are plenty of laughs, as well as some serious moments as the story goes on.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody! I'm so excited, this is my first fanfic! I hope you guys who read this will enjoy it. I promise it'll be more funnier as time goes on, and yes, there will be scenes with Blood and Alice. **

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! just wanted to make that clear.**

**Summery: **_Alice and Blood have a baby girl! This couldn't possibly end in disaster, right? WRONG! Alice was born to be a mother, but Blood as a father? Ha! On top of that, who can take him serisously now? How does their child interact with the other Role Holders? Follow Blood and Alice as they try to raise their little girl. This story is not as silly as you made think, though there are plenty of laughs for everyone. Rated T_

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><p><strong>Begin the story! Chapter 1. The Perfect Name<strong>

The servents of the Hatter Mansion, especially the maids, were gossiping about the newest resident at the house. Some couldn't believe that it was only 9 months ago when Alice had first made the announcement . But sure enough, when the months came and went, the day before a doctor was called, and Alice was confined in the master bedroom.

Those who had passed the room couldn't help but peek their heads in to get a glimpse, only to be thwarted by the pile of blankets wrapped around the baby.

Alice, in her usual nightgown, stared down at the girl with eyes full of love. After about 3 months of a happy marriage, she had gotten pregnant, and this was what came out of it. Her own little sunshine.

The baby whimpered, and she rearranged her hold on her. The baby girl had a small patch of brown hair, a shade lighter than Alice's hair. Sadly, the baby hardly opened her eyes, and if she ever did, she squinted, meaning Alice couldn't tell the eye color. It would probably make the name deciding so much easier.

With a contented sigh, she lightly gave her baby an Eskimo kiss. Nothing could possibly take away this blissful mood.

Not even the rude interrupting of two twins and a annoyed hare chasing the them.

"Onee-san! Onee-san!" they practically shouted. Alice quickly put her finger to her lips, giving them a soft 'shh' and a smile, beckoning them over the the bed.

All three of them smiled when they saw the little girl.

"She's so tiny!" exclaimed Dee.

"The tiniest baby I've ever seem!" agreed Dum.

"Probably the prettiest too." added Elliot.

"Aww, thanks you guys." Alice spoke. "Once I'm a little stronger, would you guys mind joining me to the Clock Tower? Nightmare really wanted to see her ever since he first heard about it."

The twins immediately started bouncing on their heels, repeatedly going 'yes, yes, yes!'. Elliot nodded, but tilted his head in a confusing manner. "Shouldn't Blood take you instead?"

At that Alice's smile faltered a bit. _'Blood' _she thought sadly. _'What do you think of our little girl?' _

She had no idea what he had thought, having only seen her once. Right after she was born, he had come in. She held out the baby, wrapped in a bundle of blankets, with tired arms out to him hoping he'd take her. He didn't. All he did was stare down at the little baby with a emotionless face. Her smile had slipped as she held the baby close to chest again, giving him a confused look. She couldn't read his face or his eyes. He immediately left after, leaving her alone with a single tear running down her check.

Shaking her head slightly, she put on a happier face. "I think Blood's busy at the moment." _'Apparently, he must think it's a complete waste of time.' _she thought darkly to herself.

Seeing the foreigners face take a slightly angered look, he thought it'd be best to leave. "Well I know I'm up for it, and I do know two slackers who won't be leaving their posts when the time comes." he added, directing it to the twins.

"Shut up newbie-hare!" they both shouted.

"I'm not a rabbit!" Elliot snapped back. At this he gave chase to the twins, who darted out of the room. Alice couldn't help but laugh when she heard Elliot shout, "I'm not a rabbit! I'M A DOG WITH LONG EARS!"

She sighed, "What kind of family have I brought you into?" Looking down at the girl again, she couldn't help but kiss the child's forehead of what was about the hundreth time in a row. Pulling away just a little, she started to softly hum a song while gently rocking the little girl in her arms. She didn't hear the footsteps of another role holder approach the door. She didn't see the blank stare as she hummed to the child.

Instead of luring the child to sleep, she open her eyes at the sound, revealing bright blue eyes.

_'They're just like...'_

"My eyes." somebody breathed besides her.

With a startled squeak, she turned her head to see the last person she thought would be in here. Then again, it was his bedroom also.

"Blood."

He simply nodded his head, his eyes still on the child. For once, he seemed to actually look at her. Or...more like _inspecting_ her.

This got Alice a little peeved. "Does she match up to your expectations?" she asked coldly. His gaze turned to her, narrowing his eyes. They held glares for what felt like eternity. In the end, it was Alice who looked away, instead to look down at her daughter again. Blood walked away from the bed.

"What will we call her?" the question startled Alice. She stared at him while he looked outside the window. That was a question that wasn't expected to be heard from him.

Instead of saying another snarky comment-knowing it would lead to nowhere- she decided to humor him. Not like he was going to agree with them anyway.

"Well," Alice began, "I was thinking of Sarah, Emily, Maggie, and Sally. Those names seemed like they would fit her-"

"No."

Alice rolled her eyes. She totally called it! "And I'm guessing _you_ have something better?"

Blood never turned around. He kept his gaze to the window. With a huff, Alice glared off to the side. That self centered bastard could be such a pain in the ass!

A low chuckle brought her out of her thoughts. "You can hate me all you want, but I don't agree with those name, my dear. But I do have a name that you didn't even think of."

"I don't believe it." she argued.

"Believe it." he answered. "I had originally thought that being a married woman would've made you more respectable towards me, but even at age 18, you're still so rude."

"If you're not going to tell me the name, then you can just-"

"Clara."

She blinked twice. "Eh? Where did you come up with that?" coincidentally

Blood finally turned around, give her his trademark smirk. He began walking back towards her. "Sometime after you decided to stay in Wonderland, I overheard you telling the twins a story. About a girl who followed her toys into a magical land, where everyone loved her and wanted her to stay." By this point he was at her side once again, leaning over her. "Clara seems like a name that would suit her."

She was quiet for a moment. It was a name that she hadn't even thought of. It was a pretty one too. On top of that, he had a good reasoning for it besides for her argument of, 'It's a pretty name'.

"That is a good one..." she sighed, looking down at her baby. "And now that you mention it, she does kinda look like the part..."

"Then it's decided?" the Hatter exchanged his smirk for a smile, this time lifting an eyebrow. Alice couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Yes." she agreed. Once again, Blood surprised her by kissing her, and then he held out his arms. For the first time, Alice allowed her baby to be held by someone else. And for the first time, Blood held his little girl.

He wan't expecting her to be so light...and small! He slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving the child. He didn't see Alice cover her mouth, trying to hold back a laugh. He just looked so...so...lost.

The great Blood Dupre, leader of the Mafia, was holding a child in his arms, and he had no idea what to do.

"Clara." he whispered her name. The child opened her eyes again, and two pairs of light blue eyes stared back at one another. A soft smile came to his face, with tender eyes.

"Yes, it's a perfect fit."

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><p><strong>And fin! What did you guys think? <strong>

**So that didn't go as well as I hoped it would've, but oh well. I'll learn as I go on.  
>Please read and review! Hopefully enough people will like it for the second chapter ^_^'<br>again it will be funnier as time goes on! keep smiling!**

**Note: The story Blood was talking about was The Nutcracker. I thought it was kind of fitting because everytime I think of Alice in Wonderland I think of The Nutcracker, and vice versa.**

**~serima**


	2. Chapter 2

**Huh, chapter 2 already? Wow. Okay, the only reason the 2nd one is out so quickly is because I hate writing beginnings, and I just want to get them over with! And I had no idea what to do for it, so I basically came up with something. Again, this chapter has very poor humor in it. Please forgive me if the Blood "bashing" hasn't come up yet. I'm trying to come up with ideas. But I do have an epic revenge on Peter planed out XD. **

**Oh well. Just a reminder, I OWN NOTHING! And a big thanks to my first two comments! I made the changes, so hopefully the first chapter is all fixed!**

**Happy reading!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2. Irreplaceable<strong>

"What an adorable little treasure!" Vivaldi gushed over little Clara. In her normal travelers dress, the Queen sat on a chair, snuggling with the baby. "We find her too cute! We might just take her away with us back to the palace."

Alice laughed, though she had a small feeling that Vivaldi would do that at some point. How odd.

Shrugging off the thought, she turned her attention back to her sister-in-law. It had been a week after Clara's birth, and after some thinking, Alice thought the Queen should be the first, besides Elliot and the twins, to see her. She had written a letter to her, telling her to meet them in the rose garden. It would be a ladies party.

As if she read her mind, Vivaldi raised her head smiling and said, "What a spectacular ladies party. We should have these more often."

"Yes, we should." she agreed, her smile becoming bigger. "It's nice to talk to you without Blood's rude comments."

"Speaking of our baby brother, where is he? We've heard a rumor that he's hardly left you or Clara's side." Vivaldi asked, now setting said child on her lap. Clara laughed loudly as a butterfly landed on the table.

"Ah, well..." a sly smile covered her lips, "I may have 'forgotten' to mention to him that you would be visiting. And 'coincidentally', I may have scheduled our party the day he went to the Amusement Park for business."

Vivaldi stared at her for acouple of seconds, a shocked expression painted her face. "Alice, what a terrible way to decive your husband!"

Both women were deathly quite, both of them looking directly into the others face.

Then they burst out laughing.

"Oh Alice! We find that wonderful on your part!" she said between laughs.

"Thank you! Haha!" Alice had to hold her sides. "A-and, the best part was when we first woke up, he said he was so happy that I would be resting in bed today!" This made the women laugh even harder.

"He didn't suspect a thing?"

"No, not at all! Men can be so predictable!"

"Is that a fact?" a new voice hissed behind them.

Both women screamed a small scream, looking to see who had intruded on their private party. None other than the predictable man himself standing there, top hat gone, with a annoyed expression on his face.

Alice clutched her heart, and Vivaldi clutched Clara closer. "Blood!" they both explained. Clara clapped her hands, giggling her adorable giggle, reaching out towards her father. In response he made his way towards his sister and attempted to take her way, but the Queen wasn't having any of it. She quickly stood up, holding her close to her clock.

"Vivaldi, I would be most appreshiative if you'd let me hold _my_ daughter." he spoke with an almost bored voice. She glared back in response.

"You get to hold her everyday! This is the first time we've seen our niece, and who knows when we can see her again!"

"Sometime tomorrow, actually."

Blood and Vivaldi both looked at Alice with surprise. "Excuse me?" Blood asked.

Alice folded her arms, "It's been a whole week, and I think it's about time for Clara to see more than just a dark mansion."

"She has a entire garden. She can make believe it's anything her clock sets it to be." he hissed in response. "And as you said, she's only one week old. It's too early for her to start to see the world. Wait till she's two months old."

"Two months? I can't keep her inside a mansion for that long!" she exclaimed.

Blood was determined to win. "My house, my rules, my wife, my daughter."

_'He did NOT just pull that ownership crap over me again, did he?'_ her tempered flared. "She's my daughter too you know! She's strong like me!"

"If she's inherited your strength, then she will be weak. She must be protected at all costs. She will be safe and happy til her last clock tick."

As the two continued bickering, Vivaldi had stepped away from the two, afraid the their angry aura might hit the baby. But the moment she heard the words 'clock tick', a thought popped into her head. Looking down at Clara, she saw the light blue eyes of her baby brother.

_'If Clara had inherited Alice's brown hair and attitude, did she also inherit...?'_ lowering her head, she pressed their head to the childs chest. Her eyes widen.

"Alice, Blood," Vivaldi called them them. Both parents looked over at the surprised Queen, "listen to her."

Blood was the first to get to his sister, scooping his daughter out of his sister's arms. He didn't admit it, but just like with Alice, he felt at peace having her in his arms, knowing she was safe.

With a mixture of curiosity and slight annoyance as to why he was doing this, he leaned his head down to his child's chest.

_Bah-dum._

He pulled his head away quickly. Blood stared down at the little girl, who smiled as a butterfly flew past her, and tried to reach for it. He leaned down again.

_Bah-dum, bah-dum._

Alice pulled on his sleeve, worry starting to crease into her face. "Blood?"

Silently, he passed her off to his wife, who quickly placed her head to the little girl's chest. A wide grin quickly spread over her face.

"A heart beat." she whispered. She too, looked down at his child._ 'A heart beat.' _all three adults seemed to think at once.

Blood broke the silence first. "This just proves my point." he said coolly. He lifted Clara out of his wife's arms, despite her protests. He held her close, making her rest her head on his shoulder. "With a heart beat, she can't come back. With a heart beat, she has to watch her every step. With a heart beat, she's irreplaceable." his words drifted off. He turned to look down at the shocked Alice, as he placed little Clara back into her arms. He stared intently into her eyes. "Just like her mother."

With a sharp intake of breath, she found herself wrapped up in her lovers embrace. Minding the baby, Blood wrapped his arms around Alice, as she snuggled under his chin, holding Clara close as she looked over her shoulder. Blood lifted one hand to affectionately rub his daughters head, smiling an uncharacteristic soft smile.

Vivaldi smiled at the sight. She fondly remembered when she had a family, when Blood was still her brother. This is what a true family looked like-

"We're still seeing the others tomorrow."

"Not happening."

_'Whoops, thought too soon.' _With a sigh, Vivaldi watched the two parents fight over the child's well being, with the little girl smiling a bright smile. With a sly smile, she walked over to Alice, and plucked the baby right out of her arms, and began walking away.

Both were startled to find Alice's arms empty, staring at them. Quickly, both looked up at Vivaldi's retreating figure.

"Until you two settle this, we're just going to steal your child for awhile." the Queen called back to them.

"W-w-wait a second Vivaldi!" Alice cried, dashing out of Bloods arms and after the Queen. The mafia leader placed a hand over his face. His eye twitched.

"Vivaldi!" he called after her, fast walking towards his sister. Despite Alice being in the way, Vivaldi still hadn't stopped her quick retreat. _'She's really going to take her to the palace, isn't she?' _he thought darkly. That was unacceptable. She was only _one week old._

He broke into a run. "Give her back Vivaldi!" both parents called out.

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><p><strong>Rawr! Next chapter will be longer since we see the other characters! <strong>

**A question for you to chew on: should I put the Jokers in this? I don't know much about them, but I don't see where they'd go. Tell me what you think.**

**Read and Review!**

**~serima**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hurray for my love of writing! Welcome to the 3rd chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

**Crap one more thing. Because I can't possibly come up with enough embarrassing things for Blood, I asked a friend of mine to help me. I will refer to her as Karma. No, she does not have a fan fiction account, that's just the name she asked me to call her. She's been a big help with coming up with funny situations for Blood, but any Peter related incidents are all mine ;D So if I ever mention her, you know who she is.**

**On with the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3. I Wanna Hold Her<strong>

Alice and Blood had come to an agreement; they would both visit the other role holders when Clara was two months old. It had taken the two about an hour to reach that agreement, but since both were tired of chasing down Vivaldi, they really had no choice.

The foreigner had originally thought that instead of going to them, the others would come to them.

That idea quickly died...mostly because Blood literally slammed the door right in their faces.

Alice had been against it, seeing as poor Pierce and Nightmare actually got hit in the face, but she let it slide when Peter had come around. He had come over twice.

The first time was when a maid answered the door with Alice listening from upstairs. When the maid cheerfully asked if he came to see the baby, he rudely answered, "That brats well being is none of _my_ concern. I only want my Alice." It didn't end well for the white rabbit. Alice personally kicked the pervert out. Before he could say one thing she slammed the door into his face. The second time was when Blood knew about what he said. Alice and Elliot almost burst out laughing as Blood answered the door, punched Peter in the face, and literally kicked him out the door before he could say one word.

It had already been one month now, but Alice couldn't stand it anymore. Keeping Clara inside meant keeping her inside, meaning she couldn't see her friends excluding the Hatter Family and Vivaldi.

That night she had a terrible time trying to fall asleep. All the energy stored up inside her was making her snippy and less cooperative. Needless to say, Blood wasn't going to put up with it.

"You know," he began as Alice climbed into bed with him, looking very tired, "you don't have to stay inside. You're waisting your time getting mad at us when you know very well you can go out."

His wife responded in a huff "And leave Clara couped up in the house? That isn't fair to her then."

"She's a baby Alice, she won't remember any of this. The most she'll probably remember was nearly yanking Elliot's ears right out of his head." He chuckled at the memory.

Alice was quiet for a moment, her gears turning in her head. With a dramatic sigh, she leaned over to Blood, a seductive smile on her face. "Blood..." she whispered in his ear. She could tell he was instantly turned on, but made no effort to show it._ 'Damn his self control.' _

Her hand slowly went from his stomach to his chest, inching closer every second. She kissed his cheek, and nuzzled his neck. His arm wrapped around her waist, and he quickly pulled her on top of his. A hungry growl was caught in his throat.

A flutter of soft kisses caressed her neck as the Hatter brought her closer. In response a soft moan escaped and she brought his head closer to her neck. As fingers combed through his black mane, Blood flipped them over so he was on top. Dominance was a strong point in his personality; it was also an incredibly annoying one.

As he made for her cleavage, Alice let out a wispy, "Can we go to the Clock-"

"No."

She was briefly put off by his response, but shook it off, deciding that drastic measures needed to be taken. With all her force she somehow managed to push her husband backwards to the end of the bed, roughly connecting her mouth with his. Getting wrapped up in the passion, his arms pulled his wife closer, as one arm snaked it way down to her thigh.

Pulling up for a quick breath of air, Alice fluttered her eyelashes and became nose-to-nose with the black haired sex God. "Please?" she whispered against his lips.

"One more month." he whispered back. To his up-most surprise, she slapped his hand away from her leg, and tore herself away from him. He quickly sat up as Alice stomped over to the door, yanking it open, then slamming it close.

He blinked once, then fell back onto the bed, entirely confused. The bedroom was quite for about five minutes.

Just at that moment, a maid came walking by. She was carrying some towels that came in late and was headed towards the towel closet. A loud scream came from her lips when she heard, "_What the **hell** just happened?_"

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><p>The next morning, Blood awoke early to find that his dear outsider didn't return to his side. After getting dressed, he began making his way towards the garden for his morning tea. As a servant passed by him, he tiredly muttered, "Tell Elliot and the twins to get up now. Work shall start early today."<p>

"But Sir, they're already up." the servant asked. This made Blood pause in his tracks for a moment, but he mearly shrugged.

"I guess everyone decided they couldn't sleep any longer."

"No." the servant spoke again. "They were preparing to leave with Ali-Mrs. Dupre, sir." Blood quickly eyed the servant, who gave a quick gulp. None of the servants were used to calling Alice 'Mrs. Dupre' now, and it didn't help that she insisted that they continued it. Blood, however, didn't approve.

Thankfully for the servant, the Hatter was more interested in what he said about leaving. "What do you mean by 'leaving'?" he asked, anger starting to slowly boil up.

The servant gulped again. "They said something about visiting the other territories. They had little-" the servant was caught off as Blood loudly shouted out, "SHIT!" and dash off to the mansion gates. Hearing little was all he needed to know that Alice was going against their agreement, taking Clara outside the safety of the gates. What was worse, was that the hare and the twins were in on it too. _'Alice...you better hope I don't catch up with you.'_

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><p>Unknown to him, the group had already made it to the Clock Tower. Alice couldn't help but giggle as she envisioned Julius's started expression when she first walked in, with Clara in her arms.<p>

Speaking of the angel, she looked away from her conversation with Gray as she saw Julius still holding her. Particularly, out of the incumbus reach.

"Let me hold her! It isn't fair that only you get to!"

"You'd probably drop her straight on her head the moment Gray mentions work or hos-"

"AHH!" Nightmare dived under the table, his pathetic form shaking under the table.

Gray cleared his throat. Striding over to the mortician, the lizard reached his arms out. "May I have a turn?" Almost reluctantly, he placed the child in his arms. It was hard to see, but it looked like there was a glimmer of sadness in his eyes.

"Very light." he couldn't help but say.

"And very quiet for a baby." Julius added. "I would've thought you'd be all tired with dark circles under your eyes Alice." he directed the comment at her. She only smiled.

"Luckily for us, she's a very heavy sleeper. I do believe she sleeps most of the days away when stuck inside that stuffy mansion." she spit the last part out.

The twins popped into the conversation. "We wanted to play with Clara-chan, but the boss said he'd cut our pays if we tried. We're not allowed to play with her until she's 10." both looked down for a moment, then huge smiles came onto their faces again. "We can wait. She's too small to play our games anyway."

All the adults, excluding Nightmare who was rocking back and forth under the table, sweat dropped. There was a legitimate reason why they weren't allowed to play with her. Alice had a say to it as well, so it wasn't just Bloods doing...but they didn't need to know that.

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><p>Speaking of the mafia boss, he was hissing out words of hatred as he stomped away from the Amusement Park.<p>

He had assumed that Alice would've went there first, as the cat was the one who visited (more like bothered) the most.

Although he hated to admit it, he may have overreacted when he arrived.

_Flashback_

_The pink cat was slowly limping back towards his home. Faceless passerby watched him. He honestly could care less about them. He just needed to get out of the way before-_

_"Boris!"_

_Crap. He turned around to see the park owner stalk towards him._

_"Boris! You're getting blood all over my park!" he snapped._

_"Sorry Gowland. I just...uh..." he couldn't say that he was at the palace "fell down from a tree."_

_It was obvious that he wasn't buying it. "You fell down from a tree?" he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a cat. How does that happen?"_

_"I uh...was trying to get down...and I missed a branch...and I crashed down." Boris tried to explain._

_"You expect me to believe that you got all bloodied up, from a short fall from a tree?" his eyes narrowed at him, and the cat shifted uncomfortably under his gaze._

_"...It was a very tall tree."_

_A exasperated sigh came from him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Boris...You. Are. A. Cat! You shouldn't fall from a tree from the first pl-"_

_"GOWLAND!" an angry voice made both men jump._

_They were very surprised to see a pisst off Blood Dupre dashing towards them. He skited to a halt in front of them._

_"Where...is...Alice?" He growled._

_The park owner looked confused. "Alice? She isn't here."_

_"Don't...lie to me." he hissed, "I know she came here with Clara, so there's no reason to keep her hidden from me."_

_Boris came into the conversation. "Umm, Blood? Alice hasn't been here all day. I didn't even know she was leaving the mansion."_

_"Tell me where she is!" his hat had already become his machine gun._

_"Look Blood, Alice hasn't been here in over a month. If she was here, she'd be with us and not hiding." Gowland tried to explain to the raging Hatter._

_"Fine. Be that way...**Mary**." a snake like smirk slithered onto his face._

_All hell broke lose after that._

_End of Flashback_

After things had calmed down, Pierce had showed up questioning out loud when Alice was coming. It had finally hit him that she wasn't there. He didn't even bother to apologize as he stomped out of the hellish park. He felt a little accomplished when he heard Boris trying to calm down the still fuming park owner.

_'Well if she wasn't there, she either went off to_ _the Clock Tower or the Heart Palace._'

After thinking about it for a moment, it seemed foolish to waste a single second of thinking about it. The Clock Tower was the most obvious. Vivaldi had already seen Clara, and Ace and that fucking rabbit were not her two favorite people in Wonderland.

The neutral territory was the foreigner's first home. Of course she'd want the mortician to see the _his_ baby first.

Snapping around to the right direction, he took off towards the Clock Towers

"Julius, may I talk to you for a second?" Alice beckoned the mortician towards the kitchen. He gave her a curt nod, following her. He glanced back to see the twins jabbering away about hospitals, making Nightmare cry in anguish (who was still under the table). Elliot and Gray were eying each other uneasily, with Clara giggling from the lizards arms.

Seeing that nothing was going to chaos, he finally left the room.

Alice looked like she was about to burst with happiness when she turned to face him. He quirked an eyebrow.

"So, what do you think of her?" she asked.

A small smile came to his face. "In a way, she reminds me of you. Being able to have everyone fall in love with her the moment they lay their eyes on her."

"Uhh..." was all Alice could say, as a mental image of a 10 year old girl, with 30 year old men falling in love with her.

The made her face lose some of its color.

Julius, seeing her expression, quickly changed his word choice. "As in...an Uncle's love for his niece, or a sisterly way." She relaxed a little.

"Thank goodness. I'd rather that **not **happen to her."

"So Alice, why did you call me in here?" she looked at him for a moment, then a light bulb seemed to go off.

"Oh yeah!" she sweat dropped. "I almost forgot."

A sigh came from the clock fixer, but the small smile stayed in place. It was just like two years ago...

"So I've thought long and hard on this, because what more can you do when you're locked up in a mansion, right?" she started. He answered with a nod.

"So...would you be Clara's Godfather?"

Silence took over the kitchen. Julius stared at his with surprise etched onto his face.

"Alice? Are you sure?" Him? Godfather? The man who many people despised for his role?

"Julius, think about it. My other choice was Gowland, but he's a little...eccentric. Plus, I don't think Blood would've approved at all." she explained. With the mortician still looking unsure, and idea popped into her head. "Well...if you'd rather it be Ace..."

She smirked when she saw the horror in his eyes. Giving a slight cough, he straightened out his back, smiling at Alice.

"I'd be honored to be her Godfather." Alice squealed in joy, dashing at him to give him a hug.

Everything was going perfectly! Clara was being good, the Elliot wasn't trying to kill the twins, Julius was a Godfather, the front doors were being pelted with bullets...

"EH?" she shriek. Her heart lurched when she heard Clara crying from the loud noise.

"Clara!" she cried as she and Julius dashed into the other room.

They were faced with a very pissted off Blood Dupre, holding his machine gun. The doors laid in a splintered heap.

"Blood!" "Hatter!" "Boss!" everyone shouted at the same time. Clara just kept crying.

Blood glared at all of them equally, save for his wife, whom he glared at for what seemed like eternity, and for Clara.

Gray looked petrified, not knowing what to do with the poor crying child. The best he could do was hold her closer. It wasn't a surprise when she didn't stop crying.

"This," he pointed a finger at the lizard "is why we should of waited another month. She's not ready Alice."

"She is ready!" she fought back, taking said child into her arms. "You can't keep her locked up like she's a bird. Sooner or later, she'll leave us one day."

"You're speaking of something that won't happen for years, _my lady_." the last words came out in a hiss.

With a swift hand movement, the machine gun had transformed back to the top hat, taking its normal position on top of the Hatter's head. "We're leaving now." he turned towards the open doorway.

"No."

"Excuse me?" he slowly turned his head, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Alice was getting sort of nervous, but she held her ground. "We still have to see the others. Gowland, Boris, Pierce, Vivaldi, even Ace!" nobody was surprised not to hear the stalker rabbit's name in the group.

By this time, Alice had successfully calmed her daughter down. With wet checks and glowing eyes, her stubby arms reached out to her father, a splur of complete gibberish came out. The meaning was clear enough, and a triumphant smile came onto Blood's face.

"Looks like she doesn't want to be with mommy anymore." he coolly laughed.

He began to walk towards Alice, but she took a couple of steps back.

Against the child's wishes, she was placed into the hares hold. This resulted in a extremely sad face, whimpering as her tiny hands opened and closed in Blood's direction.

"Elliot..." the threat seamed to drip of his name. He gave a gulp, looking very torn.

"Blood, we're going to the Amusement Park now. You can join us if you wish." soft words spoke, trying to stop the madness. Reaching an arm out to him, Alice smiled at him. "Would you rather her be sad in a cold, dark mansion, or out in the sunlight, knowing she'll be safe as long as you're with her?" at this she flicked her hair over her shoulders. To Blood and the others, it looked normal; to the Hatter residents, it meant something else...

He seemed to stare at her for a long time. The Clock Tower residents hasn't moved an inch; Nightmare flinched at the thought of all the paper work he'd have to do after all of this, Gray looked back and forth between the couple, and Julius just looked annoyed.

After a couple of seconds, Blood lifted his head high, his face determined.

"This is my family, and I know what's best for it. If I feel like my child is safer at home, then she's not leaving my sight."

With a sigh, Alice hung her head, looking defeated. A smile broke on Bloods face; he had won.

Or so he thought.

"Well your eye sight must suck, 'cause you haven't even noticed your own kid is gone." Gray broke the silence.

Blood quickly looked around. Horrified not to see his daughter anywhere, he turned to look at Alice, who had a huge grin spread across her face. Looking around again, he took in the fact that Elliot and the twins were gone...

* * *

><p>"<strong><em>ELLIOT!<em>**"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

All three shouted as the trio ran for their lives, with a wide eyed baby in the hares arms. Dee and Dum had their arms flailing behind them, and Elliot had his ears pinned to his head.

"Ahhh Boss is really angry!" shouted Dum.

"I don't want my pay to get cut!" screamed Dee.

"Shut up and keep running!" screeched Elliot.

Right after they had left the gates, Alice had asked them that should Blood ever catch up to them, which was highly likely, if they would take Clara and run for their lives.

And that's just what they were doing; running for their fricken lives!

"It was my idea!" A tired foreigner called out to her psychotic husband, who was getting farther ahead of her.

"I don't give a damn, Alice!" he called back. "I'm not going to go on a wild goose chase all day, just because you got bored at home!"

"You know I can't leave Clara alone for a day! She's nursing from me you idiot!"

"I know that! But that doesn't mean you can't pop out for just one hour a day!"

"I need to be with her at all time, I'm her mother!"

"And where is she now? Hmm? Answer that!"

* * *

><p>"Holy crap! She's Bloods kid?" Boris stared in shock at the baby, who was currently attached to his boa.<p>

"Chu! She looks just like Alice, chu!" Peirce started, for once being right next to the cat without him trying to eat him.

"Who knew the Hatter could do something right?" Gowland was just as shocked as his feline friend. When he first saw Elliot, he was prepared for a fight. It wasn't until he saw a giggling baby that he finally put his gun away.

"She's *gasp* adorable *gasp* isn't she?" The hare was on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Dee and Dum laid on top of each other in exhaustion. At one point Blood was hot on their heels, so they went into over-drive just to get out of his reach.

"YOU THREE!" all six quickly snapped to attention, and the three lay abouts jumped up.

Their clocks ticked faster when they saw both husband and wife speed walking towards them; Blood looking like he was going to murder the next person who glanced at him, and Alice looking very tired put pleased that they made it here.

"Ah, hey Blood..." Elliot sheepishly waved to his friend. The feelings weren't neutral.

The Hatter walked right into his face, growling "When we get back home, you're dead."

The non-hare gulped. He moved onto the shaking pair. "You two are fired!" he spat venomously.

The brothers' shocked and horrified faces were the exact same. They never dreamed that this would really happen!

"But Boss-" Dee started.

"You can't!" Dum finished.

Blood crossed his arms. "I did."

_Slap!_

"That's enough Blood!"

The group looked frightened by the vicious face Alice wore. Her eyes flashed and her pink lips pulled into a frown. They backed away at least five steps. Except for Blood, that is. He only stared at her with a blank expression.

"This has gone way too far! You can't keep her locked up forever, and you can't be by her side all the time!" he opened his mouth to speak, but she slammed her hand over his mouth. "And another thing; I'm offended that you don't trust me enough! Sure I may be naive at time, but when it comes to my baby's life, I'm going to be 100 percent alert. And how can you not trust Dee and Dum? And for that matter, Elliot? They're skilled fighters, they're not going to let anything happen to her! And neither will the other role holders. So I want you to drop this petty grudge once and for all!"

To make herself clear, she stomped her foot.

_'Yeah, that's really tough Alice_._'_ Boris couldn't help but smirk at the action. But her little monologue there was powerful.

Blood stared down at his wife, letting what she said sink in.

When it looked like he was slowly turning into a statue, Alice sighed, and turned to hold her baby. Blood's arm snatched out and pulled her back to him, enveloping his into a tight hug.

"Blood..." she struggled against him.

"I'm selfish, okay? I'm a horrible, selfish person who is willing to lock his wife and child up, just so they won't leave him when I can't go out. I'm a bad husband and a stupid father. Happy now?" his voice held no emotion, but the meaning slapped Alice in the face.

Of course he was being selfish! He wouldn't let anyone see her, and even yelled at Dum (or was it Dee?) when he asked if he could hold Clara. But then...she was a selfish mother too...

_'I really didn't need to go out...Clara is still very young, and I'm her life line right now. Without me, Clara would die of starvation...'_

This caused tears to stream down her face.

"I'm a horrible mother!" she sobbed into his chest. Blood looked down at her shaking for as if she was stupid. "Excuse me?"

"I'm a selfish horrible mother! I only wanted to leave the house because I was sick of you telling me I couldn't! I wanted to take Clara outside, but I knew deep down that you were right! She's too small and fragile to be outside the mansion! I just wanted to see my friends again!" she cried out.

Passerbys stopped and stared at the couple. At the evil look they received from the mafia boss, they looked the other way and hurried off to their own destination. He returned his gaze to the shaking girl in his arms. His eyes softened.

"You're not a terrible mother. You're a wonderful one. Only you could see that Clara wouldn't be happy if I locked her away from the world. Only you really tried to make her happy." he kissed her forehead.

Alice gave a pathetic sniff, "We both have our faults, don't we?"

"Yes, but we balance each other out with our strengths." he replied.

Both looked into the others eyes, then they closed the gap between their lips.

"Okay, you two, seriously? Right in front of the kid? Cover her eyes!" Boris interrupted them. In truth, he still didn't like seeing Alice with Blood, but he also wasn't joking about Clara's innocent eyes being scared for life.

Blood sighed, releasing his hold on Alice. He made a mental note to finish what they started later.

"Boris, it's my turn now. I haven't gotten a chance to hold her."

_Twitch. _

Alice saw the involuntary eye movement of Blood when the park owner tenderly held Clara in his arms. Instinct made her grab his arm. "Blood..." she cautioned him.

Instead an evil glint got caught in his eyes as a malicious grin spread across his face.

_'Aw crap...' _seemed to pass through the thoughts of Alice, Boris, and Elliot as they saw the look. The twins were preoccupying themselves by tormenting Peirce, so they didn't see as Blood marched over to the park owner.

With worry in her heart, Alice quickly scooped Clara out of his arms, making up the excuse that Clara needed to be fed again.

"I'm going to have a foul taste in my mouth for a month after this but..." there was a dramatic pause "you've done good Blood. You've done good."

The mafia boss was quite surprised by this sudden compliment, and for a moment, the cruelness about him seemed to vanish. "Well...thank you...Gowland."

Le gasp!

The three looked at each other. Could it be that Clara, this tiny baby girl who didn't know the difference between the color blue and a chair, could bring peace between two arch rivals. There was hope here that was never there before.

"Hopefully when she grows up, she won't mistake you for a woman **Miss.** **Mary."**

"F*** YOOOOOU!"

"Damn it Blood!" Alice cried as she quickly ducked for cover by a building, trying to soothe the crying baby as the guns went off.

* * *

><p>"Don't make me do this." Alice whined. "Let's go back home now, please?"<p>

"Punishment goes where punishment is needed." Blood remarked as he led the way to Heart Castle, dragging her behind to make sure she didn't try to escape.

"B-b-but Vivaldi knows she can come over any time." her voice dropped to a whisper only Blood could hear.

"Ah, but the knight and the rabbit haven't seen her yet. You wouldn't deny them the chance to see her, do you?"

"You know very well that Peter cares less about Clara, and for that I want to deck him." her voice came out in a hiss. "And I don't trust Ace with _our_ baby." putting enfathis on our, making him remember it was his child too.

"Would you rather we go to the circus?"

"When are we going to get there?" Alice quickly sped up taking the lead. Blood chuckled a bit.

When the group reached the maze, Alice took a deep breath, shifting Clara to the other shoulder. During the gun outbreak, Alice had managed to slip into an empty bathroom, feeding the hungry child, making her very sleepy.

She could almost feel the light heartbeat as she slept peacefully on her shoulder. With a contented sigh, she made her way towards the entrance.

"Wait just a moment, let me take care of her." Blood stepped in front of Alice when they neared the palace, snatching the baby out of her arms, cradling her against his chest.

Alice immediately started to protest, but Blood put a gloved hand to her lips. "It's to make sure little Clara is safe when it happens."

"When wha-"

"ALICE! ~ 3"

Thuamp!

"When _that_ happens." Dum stated, watching Alice squirm under Peter's death grip.

"Oh Alice, I missed you so much! Did you miss me? You must have, since you are clearly here I see!" Peter gushed out.

"Ow! Peter get off!" she flew a quick punch to his cheek. He sat up, but did not get off. "Feisty as usual, I see."

Blood walked over to the pair, disgust practically sweeping off him. "White, that is my wife you're laying on top of. I suggest you rise up at once."

Peter didn't bother to look up at Blood, ignoring him. "I just couldn't wait to see Alice so-GAH!" the rabbit cried out.

Alice had to bit her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. Standing up while bending over, the Prime Minister flailed his arms, as Clara had woken up from her nap, and snatched one of his ears. The delight in her eyes could be clearly seen, and her laughter chimed like little bells. Blood made no movement to stop this.

"Gah! Let go!" He cried. The twins were rolling on the ground laughing, Elliot hid his smile behind his hand, and even Blood was chuckling lowly at the sight.

Deciding to come to the perverts rescue, she stood up and gently grabbed Clara's hand, removing them from his ear.

"Peter, this is the sunshine of my life, Clara. Say hi to Peter sweetie." she cooed to the baby girl. She gurgled out some odd response, but Alice too it as a hello in baby language. "What do you think?"

The white rabbit stared at her for a bit, narrowing his eyes. Blood raised his chin and narrowed his own eyes, challenging him to say something bad.

In the end, Peter concluded that the best way to go about this was to tell the truth.

"She's cute Alice." he sighed.

The Hatter swiftly turned on his heel and made his way to the palace doors, with Alice and their posse trailing behind him. Peter grumbled behind them.

It wasn't a lie, it was true. Clara was a cute baby. He could of even liked her if she had his beloved Alice's eyes. But no, the baby had the cold blue eyes of the cruel mafia leader. She was going to end up just like her father, and not even kind hearted Alice could stop it. He gave his injured ear a soft rub. He already held a grudge against the child. This was not starting out too well.

"Your highness, the Hatter Family is here to see you." a faceless guard announced.

Vivaldi was in mid sip of her tea, and surprise crossed her face as she immediately spotted the adorable bundle in her brother's arms.

She almost couldn't contain her joy as she stood up and walked towards them.

The Queen wasn't the only one surprised; Ace was standing by her side, and curiosity spiked him as he saw the child.

"Is this the little angel?" she cooed. Alice mentally applauded her for putting on the act.

Ace sauntered over to the group, cocking his head to the side. "That's her?" Alice nodded. He took her in for a moment, then a wide grin spread over his face. "So how many times did it take Dupre?"

"Ace!" Alice's jaw dropped.

"What? Just curious." The all too innocent shrug wasn't fooling Alice. "I'm just saying, there's no shame if Dupre needed a little while to get things moving." Blood practically shoved Clara into Vivaldi's-waiting- arms, his anger seething. The group seemed to back away.

"Repeat that?" the voice was deadly. Ace took no heed of it. "Don't be ashamed Dupre! A lot of men can't get it on the first shot! Only the really experienced ones know how to do it. I'm guessing all those notorious rumors I've heard about your old image must of been a rouge that you paid women to spread."

For the third fricken time that day, Blood started another heated gun fight, this time with a sword, which ended up making Ace's day. Neither of them listened to the Queen as shouted repeatedly shouted, "No fighting in our garden!"

Peter rolled his eyes, Elliot took a seat in a chair, Dee and Dum started playing their game, Alice yawned, and Clara cried at the loud gun noises.

"What kind of family have I brought you into?" she muttered, as a maid quickly ushered her inside away from the violence. When safely inside, Alice looked out the window. The fight didn't look like it was going to end soon despite Vivaldi's raging threats.

Clara fussed in her arms, whimpering as the gun shots could still be heard. Alice smiled, kissing her daughter on the forehead. It was official; Clara hated guns too.

"You truly are my baby." She whispered, nuzzling her tired child.

* * *

><p><strong>*facedesk* Oh my god, that was torture! I never thought I'd get it done. Now I know why it takes writers so looooong to get a chapter updated!<strong>  
><strong>So the ending is very crappy, shame on me. I just wanted to get this chapter done with. I love baby Clara, but I want to get her to talking. So many things couldcan happen!**

**I'd just like to put it out there that I made a goof up...Blood has green eyes.**

**IN MY DEFENSE, I was looking at an image from the game. Stupid Blood never opens his eyes enough, or the picture can't zoom, so it looked like he had light blue eyes! It wasn't until I saw fan art of him with green eyes did I decide to check out other images. And after a lot of squinting, I found out that he had greenish...bluish eyes...not like Alice's, more greener then blue. So for the sake of this story and sequel (wait what?), pretend he has blue eyes. For my other stories, I'll make sure he has green ones. . Forgive me!**  
><strong>That's all folks. Read and Review!<strong>

**~serima**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hellooooooo again! Here is the 4th chapter!  
>Soooo...I need to apologize to you guys...if you can believe it, I didn't realize how long chapter 3 was...turns out 1 and 2 were about 4, and 3 was about 14. I was very,very,very surprised! You guys should of seen my face, haha. So anyways, I'll try not to do that again, and I'm very sorry if you of you guys got bored with it. There's no doubt it will happen again, just hopefully not for a while. <strong>

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

**A HUGE thank you goes out to all those who did review. I wish you happy writing!**

**For some visuals that I don't plan on describing in the story (because I'm lazy), I'll say it here. For Clara's outfit, just imagine Disney's Alice in Wonderland dress, socks, and shoes, only for a baby. And there is no bow. **

**Begin the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4. The First Birthday<strong>

The Hatter family was walking down the familiar path to the Heart Palace. Blood had a sour expression on his face, Alice a happy one, and Elliot was literally pulling on his ears as the twins shouted out, "Birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday-"

"_SHUT-UP!_" he finally shouted.

Sharing an evil smile, the two ran up to either side of him, grabbed his ears and shouted, "BIRTHDAY!"

"Die!" the hare gave chase to the Bloody Twins as the gleefully ran ahead of him, laughing their heads off as they would turn in circles with the hare following straight behind them. Alice was paying them no mind, as her attention was drawn to little Clara, who was staring up at the sky with wide eyes.

Today was Clara's' first birthday, and in that one year she had changed. She was heavier than when she was born, but still light for a baby. Her small patch of hair had grown out slightly, with some of the ends having a slight curl to it.

For the special occasion, the maids had made Clara a little party dress for her, as their own birthday present for her. Even Blood had agreed that it was cute on her.

She was so caught up in her daughters adorableness, she didn't notice the trio was coming straight at her, too caught up in their own world.

Alice and Clara would've plummeted to the ground, but Blood quickly pulled them out of the way at the dashed past them.

Giving her head a slight shake, she smiled at her husband.

"Thanks. That would've ended horribly."

He grunted. "Don't let it happen again." With that, he continued his way to the palace, with a annoyed Alice trailing behind him.

* * *

><p>Vivaldi had insisted that Clara had her first birthday at the palace. "She is a special treasure, and should be treated like a princess." she had told her brother a week before. Alice thought it was a great idea, but Blood wasn't on board. He had planed a quiet day with just him, Alice, and little Clara. A family day. But after both women jumped against it, he had no choice but to give in.<p>

_'Women...'_ he thought bitterly as he gazed around the palace gardens.

He had to admit it, the Queen knew how to throw a party. The tables were set with fine china with roses painted on them, the tables had red cloth draped over them, and red streamers hung all around. Red balloons were tied to each chair, and were set around the garden. A separate table was off to the side. He guessed it was for presents, as it already had 2 presents on it. In fact, Elliot was making his way, putting his own gift next to the others.

"Hey Blood, where's your present?" the hare asked. The Hatter walked over to him, a glum expression on his face, "Alice and I have a combined gift, and we're saving it for when we get home."

Elliot nodded his head in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something when a loud noise entered the garden. The Clock Tower residents and the Amusement Park residents had arrived.

"It's party time!" Boris shouted.

* * *

><p>Turns out, the party wasn't so bad after all.<p>

Boris, Peirce, Dee and Dum were having fun playing with Clara, as she clung onto his boa with great laughter. Vivaldi and the King were having a conversation with Julius and Gowland, keeping him far away from Blood as possible. The said Hatter had decided to turn own his ownership switch on Alice, as he had grown tired of the White Rabbit trailing at her side. He in turn always had his arm either around her shoulder or waist, and frequently used the words "my lady", "dear", and "our". For once she didn't mind. She too, was tired of Peter following her, and it was making her tired, and had half a mind to allow Clara to pull his ears again.

Speaking of ears, Elliot was having a peaceful conversation with Nightmare, who was grateful that for once Gray wasn't trying to make him do paper work. Instead, the lizard took it upon himself to keep an eye on Clara, should one of the boys make her cry as she enjoys her day.

When it was time for cake, everyone gathered around. The Bloody Twins had their eyes glued to the red chocolate cake, but held themselves back to sing the song. That, however, ended badly.

Why? Because Gowland whipped out his violin and tried, or failed in Bloods words, to play Happy Birthday. The whole crowd covered their ears, their eyes shut tightly. Alice was the only one who didn't cover her ears. Instead, she held them over Clara's, begging that the child wouldn't cry.

She didn't, but the most hysterical confused face covered her normally happy face, as she glanced around wondering where that odd sound was coming from.

After Blood made a mean comment, guns were shot, words were shouted, and Vivaldi's threat of throwing both of them out, all had calmed down, and the group finally started to sing.

"Happy Birthday to you! Harry Birthday to you!" they all sang. Except for the twins, who kept shouting out the 'birth' part of the song, and Blood, who mumbled along.

"Happy Birthday dear Clara! Happy Birthday-"

"TO YOOOOOOU!" A new voice shouted from the doors. All eyes darted to the doors. Julius physically cringed when he saw the happy-go-lucky knight walking down the steps.

Vivaldi frowned. "Ace! Why are you so late?"

He laughed in response. "I couldn't find the right gift, then I got lost on my here." He threw his present onto the table.

"So, where's the Clock Fixer?" he asked with a innocent grin, as Julius slunk away, muttering under his breath.

After the cake had been cut up and passed around, Dee and Dum had shared once look at Boris. With evil smirks, Boris had thrown his in the chest of the poor Door mouse, and Elliot ended up covered in cake and frosting.

"Chu! Now he's going to eat me, chu!" Peirce cried out as the Cheshire chased him around with a knife and fork. He was a little put off for a moment when the twins joined him at his side, as they gleefully ran away from the seething Hare.

"Can't take them anywhere." Blood hissed as he glared at the five of them, with Alice nodding next to him.

"No cake throwing in our garden!" Vivaldi yelled out. Despite her yells of death threats and the Kings worried words, the Queen refused to pass Clara to someone else. The child looked up at her wide eyed, her little arms flailing as if copying the Queens arm as she pointed at the group.

* * *

><p>"Okay...has everyone given their present?" Blood asked. His jaw was clenched, and was getting very tired of all the interrupting. There were way too many interruptions, including more cake throwing, each unwrapping taking 10 minutes each.<p>

Alice rubbed his arm soothingly and it helped at first, but got distracted when his daughter started pulling on his hair.

"Gah...no sweetie." Nobody really knew how, but the Hatter had somehow managed to ween his daughter out of his sister's grasp. Sadly there was a price to pay. In the past month Clara had decided it was the most entertaining thing in Wonderland to watch her father's face squintch up when she pulled his hair.

Not even her shiny new gifts could distract her. Julius had given her a sliver pocket watch ("Something for her when she gets older." the mortician murmured), Nightmare had given her a light blue silk hankie ("It'll be soft for her little nose!"), Gray had given a large white pillow filled with goose feathers ("It's big enough for her to lay on it as a bed til she's two."). Elliot had given her white Mary Janes, made specially for babies ("They just look like something she would wear.")

Gowland gave her a string of bells ("Musical talent starts somewhere!"), and Boris gave her a water gun, which he gleefully tested out on Pierce ("She probably won't use it til she's older, but I figured the child of a Mafia boss needed to start small.") Blood actually had a thoughtful look on his face when he saw the gift.

Ace had actually gotten thoughtful, and got a small journal so Alice could write down her favorite moments with Clara ("It's technically for the kid. Something fun for her to read when she gets older."). Peter had gotten lazy and just gave a rose, but was still slightly offended when she threw it on the ground. Vivaldi seemed to have taken mental notes over the year, and had gotten a large blue and purple plushy stuffed dragon that were as soft as Boris's boa ("We remember her odd fascination with a dragon picture in a book we were looking at when we visited." she whispered to Alice. "She kept patting the page the biggest smile yet.")

But by far her favorite was the blue balloon Pierce had gotten her ("I didn't know what she would like chu! Please forgive me, chu!"). Boris was about to smack him for the boring gift, but couldn't when Clara kept playing with it, bouncing it when the sting, giggling and making odd noises. Sadly, not even the wondrous balloon could keep her from pulling out her fathers hair.

Her eyes lit up, and she continued her assault, using both hands and tugging harder.

"Ahh! Clara!"

"Having trouble Hatter?" the Knight laughed as Blood tried to gently pull her away. Blood tried to give him a icy glare, but it was hard when his head was being pulled this way and that.

"We haven't!" The Hatter sighed as the twins ran up to him, Dum holding a wooden box with a rose carved on it, and Dee holding a small black key attached to a red ribbon. The party stopped what they were doing and stared at the odd present. Managing to pull the girl off, Blood held her in front of him so she couldn't grab his hair again. His eyes stared curiously at the box. "Did you two carve that onto the top?" He asked.

The twins looked at each other, their smiles faltering just a bit. "Well..." they both began.

"See, we wanted a special box for her first birthday..." Dee started.

"A box better then a normal box where it just gets thrown away." Dum continued.

"A pretty box for her room..."

"A box she could always use..."

"A box that showed how much we love her..." Dee looked as if he didn't want to continue. This made Blood worry for his daughter. "Yes?"

"We swear we didn't tell him!" Dee suddenly exclaimed! "He must of heard from the rumor spreading around town!"

"Not him, them." Dum interrupted his brother.

"Him."

"Them."

"Him."

"Them.

"Him!"

"Them!"

"Him!"

"Them!"

"Who?" shouted the entire party.

"Joker!" Dee and Dum shouted back. "**They** came to us as we were leaving the Amusement park 2 weeks ago. **They** wanted to give something for Clara-Chan's birthday, but knew you wouldn't except anything from **them**, so **they** just carved a box." Dum made sure that his brother heard certain words in his explanation.

Alice paled a little, and Blood glared headily at them. "And you agreed?" He hissed.

"I don't see the big deal. He, they, I don't know, just carved the top for them." The Cheshire quickly jumped to his friends defense.

"What's in the box?" Alice questioned, ignoring the others as her husband and friend continued to fight. The twins gave her a big smile. "Before we were planing to give her a set of pretty ribbons, but after **he** came to us, we wanted to make sure our little Clara-chan was safe." Dum placed the box on a table, and Dee opened it with the black key. Blood and Boris stopped their quarrel to watch. Together, with a smile at Clara, they opened to wooden box. There were gasps and shocked faces all around.

Inside the box, a dangerously sharp looking knife sat in a hole that shaped its shape. The blade was about 4 and a half inches long, the color being a bright gray with a slight shine to it. The handle was black, with a dark red stem twisting its way up toward the blade, with a blood red rose at the top was painted on it.

It was quiet for 3 minutes, but it seemed to drag on for an eternity. Dum and Dee looked terrified as their Boss inspected the blade with a critical look about it. The others gathered around trying to get a look at the blade. Alice's gaze kept traveling from the knife, to her daughter, then back. She was the first to speak up. "I think it's a good idea."

* * *

><p>"G'night Alice." Elliot yawned as he past her in the hallway. "Great party."<p>

"Yes, thank you so much." She smiled at him, and Clara gurgled something towards the Hare. With a final smile, Alice entered her bedroom. Blood was already pulling out a small box from the side table next to the bed. He sat down on the side, and Alice climbed next to him, snuggling in her daughter's hair.

"Hey, Clara." The Hatter whispered uncharacteristically, leaning down to his daughter's eye level.

It was so odd, even after a whole year, Alice was still stunned when she saw her husband this way. A soft smile would creep onto his usually bored face, and his eyes would have this sweet happiness whenever he saw their child. She heard that if Clara cried and she wasn't around, which was very rare, he would come and gently rock her to sleep.

As Blood lifted Clara out of her arms to give her an Eskimo kiss, she couldn't help but remember a moment that had happened when she was eight months old.

_Flashback_

_Since Clara had recently stopped nursing from her, Alice had some spare time to take half an hour naps to catch up on sleep every day. For a whole month she'd been taking a blissful break from Wonderland._

_Today, however, she slept so soundly the night before that she didn't need the extra nap. She tried to, but she ended up staring up at the ceiling for 5 minutes. Her only thoughts were what Clara was doing._

_'Is it healthy to think about a child this much?' With a shrug, she went off to find her daughter._

_After about 6 minutes, she finally found the maid she handed her daughter to. As always, the maid was surprised that she recognized her. What surprised Alice was that her child wasn't with the maid. The word 'shocked' didn't match what she was feeling when the maid told her where she was._

_"She's with Mr. Dupre, Miss. Alice. Just like every day." she answered simply._

_"Every day?" she blinked twice. "I thought she was napping too."_

_"Well for the first 3 days she was, but then Mr. Dupre found out you were taking naps, I've been ordered to hand her over to him. He's probably with her in his office."_

_'Time to see what they do together.' she thought as she creaked open the office door._

_And she literally fell over trying to contain her laughter._

_The Bloody Hatter was playing peek-a-boo with his daughter. He was so into his little game that he didn't hear the door open in the first place. Grabbing the door handle, she tried to raise herself from her knees, but couldn't keep it in anymore when Blood picked up Clara and spun her around in a circle, playfully cooing, "Who's my little girl? You are!"_

_"Oh God! S-stop! P-p-please! Ahahahaha!"_

_"Alice?" said wife feel into the room, holding her sides. "Oh God Blood! Are you even my husband?" she laughed out, oblivious to the seething glare she was receiving from a blushing Hatter._

_End of Flashback_

"Alice...are you going to stop laughing, or can we give Clara our gift?" he teased her.

"Oh yes...hehe...sorry. Do you want to give it to her, or me?" she asked, trying to push the memory out of her head.

"I'll give it to her, since it was my idea."

"Ass."

He ignored her remake as he handed her back. "Clara, this is a gift from mommy and daddy." she cooed to her sleepy daughter. Blood opened the box, and took out a neck-less. It was a sliver chain, with a tiny black top hat charm. Something simple, yet meaningful. "I guess we weren't the only ones who got something for when she's older." Alice joked. The hat-less Hatter rolled his eyes, dangling the neck-less over her head. She grabbed it with her tiny hands, wonder in her eyes.

"Want to sleep with mommy and daddy tonight?" Alice asked her daughter, lifting her to her face. Though the child didn't understand, she gave a tired yawn, which was as good as "I don't care, just let me sleep."

As both parents laid down, with their daughter carefully between them, Blood turned off the light. As his wife and daughter quickly fell asleep, the father didn't follow suit. Instead, his eyes traveled to his closet, where on a shelf in the back, a wooden box sat.

_'When she's older...'_ he thought tiredly.

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><p><strong>*falls over* Why do I keep writing long chapters? I kept telling myself 'don't make this too long'. That failed miserably! Oh well, anyways thanks for all the reviews. Cassandra Airay helped me with the gift ideas, so please thank her as well. <strong>

**Well I am going to take a break (don't worry I'll be back next week). Heads up Clara will be 3 next chapter. And if you thought Blood was waaaaaay out of character during the flashback, then mission accomplished! R&R!**

**~serima**


	5. Chapter 5

**serima here! thanks for all the views you guys! I really appreciate it!  
>I gave you a teaser, now here is the chapter!<strong>

**Summer is finally here! Meaning more updates! W00T! I do really enjoy writing this story, and it won't stop for a long time (not too long I hope, that would get rather tiring). Ok, so Clara is wearing a nightgown, and the best way I can help you imagine is Wendy's dress from Disney's Peter Pan, only I put my own details in the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

**Anyways, begin the-  
>Karma: WAIT!<br>serima: *falls over* what?  
>Karma: WHAT ABOUT MY TWIN STORY! ALICE AND BLOOD HAVING TWINS!<br>serima: umm...Karma would really like some feedback on that sub-  
>Karma: TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!<br>serima: read before she kills!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5. It Should've Been the Mortition<strong>

Blood Dupre gave an irritated sigh as Elliot and Dee came zooming past him for the sixth time that night. He thought that a quite midnight tea party with Alice was the perfect way to celebrate his first day without paper work, but when the trio that resided with him came out, he knew he was in for it.

Alice, he noticed, was actually having a great time. For once Dum was without his twin, so the two were having a casual conversation. He was dumbfounded on how Dum didn't help with brother interrogate Elliot, but he guessed that the new spicy tea that he tried probably made it impossible to talk. So Dee was left alone running with glee, but Dum didn't seem to mind.

Blood did mind however.

The whole point was for him to be alone with Alice, and it wasn't happening. Normally before and after they were married, they had a little trouble being alone, but now it was near impossible since...

He set his cup down, staring into it with a soft expression on his face. _'Since Clara came into our lives.'_

And he didn't mind one bit. Alice was his loving wife, and Clara was his loving daughter. Together, they seemed to give him the perfect family. He now hated himself for that very first moment he saw Clara. He had been irritated that he didn't get the boy he was hoping for, but after he saw his eyes in the little girls face, he fell in love.

With all the power a mafia boss had, he would make sure his little girl would always be happy. He would never see her cry.

"Mommy! Daddy!" cried out a terrified voice.

...Except now.

The group turned their heads as little Clara dashed towards them. She was wearing a light blue short sleeved nightgown that went a little past her knees. There was a dark blue stripe that went around under her chest, and white socks one her feet. Her hair was wavy curling a bit at the bottom, reaching just past her shoulders. A scared expression was on her face, and little tears were in her eyes.

Clara was running so fast that as she was nearing the table, her socked feet slipped, and she crashed face first into the grass.

"Clara!" both parents yelled as they raced over to her. Elliot, Dee, and Dum had just jumped from their seats, looking very worried. Blood reached her first. Kneeling down, he picked her put in her arms. She clung to him for dear life as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Clara, sweetie! What's wrong?" Alice asked, as she soothingly rubbed her back, with her other hand resting her her trembling head. In response she spun around into her mothers' arms.

"I had a scary dream!" the child cried. _'A nightmare.'_ Blood mentally told himself.

"I-i-it was all dark! And there was a big spi-spi-spider coming at me!" Alice and Blood shared a look. The day before Clara was out in the garden, and she had encountered her first spider. It was just a harmless little thing, but to Clara it was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen in her life.

"Shh, shh." Alice cooed her daughter. "Let me just tuck you back-"

"NO!" the child cried. "I don't want to be alone!"

"But Clara it's way passed your bedtime." Alice struggled with the terrified child. Sensing that her mother wasn't on her side, she turned to her other parent, springing into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and with the biggest, teary-eyed puppy dog eyes you've ever seen stared up at him. "Daddy...don't make me go back up...pleeeeease?" Blood turned his head away, trying to avoid the eyes...oh the eyes! He had a horrible feeling that if he didn't learn to overcome them while she's still young, they'll attack again when she's a teenager.

He was about to say no, when a tiny sniff was heard, and he felt Clara bury herself in his chest. "Blood..." his wife whined. He looked at her. Apparently she couldn't fight the eyes either. "F...fine...But only for a couple of minutes!" He added darkly. She flinched at the tone, but none the less skipped merrily over to the cheering twins.

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><p>"So dear, what will make you sleepy?" the foreigner called out. Both parents and Elliot learned quickly that a 3 year old, plus short on sleep, plus 2 slices of carrot cake, equals, 'Madness with Dee and Dum.' She had quickly taken a liking to the game tag, with Dum chasing after her and his brother.<p>

As she was passing on her 3rd lap around the long table, the annoyed tea lover scooped her up by the waist, passing his daughter to his wife.

"Cake!"

"God no." Blood grumbled as he sipped his tea. Elliot just laughed, having another slice of cake. "B-b-but..." the pity face shot back on her face "Uncle Elliot is having a slice..." Said Hare rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile and Blood gave a small cough, tilting his top hat down over his eyes.

He heard Alice laugh. "How about a story?" A tiny gasp was heard. "Really? What story mommy?"

Alice was stumped, not knowing what to say. She hated improvising. Something had to pop up quick. "Uh...the story is about a girl...who ends up in a different world." This caught everyone attention.

Clara's bright blue eyes grew wide. "Really? What's her name?"

"...Alicia."

The child frowned. "Your name is prettier mommy. I bet you're better than her!" she snuggled into her mothers neck. "But please contune the story." Elliot laughed at her failed attempted at the word 'continue'. _'Pretty good for a 3 year old.'_ he thought to himself.' "Go on Alice, I want to hear this story."

"Yes! Keep talking Onee-chan!" The twins joined in. Blood remained quiet.

"Well...once upon a time, a young girl named Alicia went to a magical place called Wonderland."

"How original." The Hatter muttered into his cup.

"Hey! Don't interrupt, or this story will never get done!" Alice snapped. "Anyways, she fell down a rabbit hole, and ended up in Wonderland, and the she quickly learned it wasn't anything like home. Only a handful of people here had faces, and they were all crazy. She decided to stay with the sanest one she could find. He was the Time Keeper. He was in charge of changing time, which could be done whenever he pleased.

"There was also a beautiful Red Queen and a lovely Dutches. They were close friends of Alicia, and always made sure she had a fun time in Wonderland. There was also a Cheshire Cat, who had a large grin that went ear to ear. He, along with the March Hare and the Tweedle Twins, would make sure she was never bored. Then there was a Mad Hatter. He was a cold, vial, mean, heartless, ruthless, uncaring-"

"Thank you Alice." Blood hissed. He shot Alice a cold glare while she returned it with a shrug and a 'innocent' smile. "Returning to the story, one day while Alicia was visiting the Mad Hatter, he accused her of not spending enough time with him. So he tried to strangle her-"

"Ah!" Clara stared at her mother with horror, leaning away. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he was a jealous brute." She answered simply, ignoring the Hatter's cold glare. "Brute?" Clara tilted her head cutely to the side.

"Anyways, the Mad Hatter let her go, and to show he was sorry...um, he gave her a book. As she was leaving, Alicia came across the Time Keeper. To make her happy, he told her that he would take her to a ball being hosted by the Red Queen. The night of the ball, Alicia was visited by the Mad Hatter, who told her he loved her. In response, she gave him a kiss on the check, saying that it couldn't be.

"Alicia had planned on going home soon, so she couldn't be very close to anyone. So when she and the Time Keeper got to the ball...uhh...the Mad Hatter...started fighting with the Time Keeper, saying that he couldn't have Alicia. After a huge fight, the Time Keeper said he didn't deserve Alicia, because he was a horrible, cold, mean-"

"Uh I think she gets it Alice. Heh, heh..." Elliot quickly interrupted, stretching his hands out. The look on his friends face sent chills down his spine. The same went for Alice, but she could ignore it a little better. Plus, she couldn't pass up the change of insulting the tea lover.

"What? Oh yes, moving on! So, the day came where Alicia was going to leave. Everyone in Wonderland begged her to stay, but she still wanted to go home. Before she could even close her eyes, the Mad Hatter ran over, and kissed her, saying he would just die without her by his side." Alice couldn't stop herself from glancing over to Blood giving him a big smile and batting her eyelashes. She was greeted with cold eyes and the sound of a cup clashing with a small plate. "So she decided to stay with him in Wonderland, and they lived happily ever after. The end."

With the story finally finished, Alice took a deep breath. _'Making up stories is hard work.'_

Dee and Dum shared a look, then turned their heads towards her. "Uh...Onee-chan? That story was kinda rushed."

"Well I liked it. You two try coming up with something half an hour after midnight." Elliot came to Alice's defense.

Dum left his spot, running over to Alice, loudly whispering "Was Julius the Time Keeper?" she nodded in response. "Well...it wasn't the worst story that I've heard."

"The whole story was a bore, my lady." placing his chin on his hand, Blood smirked at Alice's flushed face. "What do you think Clara?" His daughter wasn't listening to anyone. Her face was scrunched up, looking thoroughly confused.

"Wait...you mean she ended up with the Mad Hatter?" Clara asked wide eyed.

Alice laughed at her daughter's curiosity, "Of course dear. She loved him after all." Blood's smirk got even bigger as he saw her blush from where he was sitting.

Dee and Dum chimed in, "Yeah, and he could protect the foreigner the most! Plus he had the Twins to help protect her!"

But Clara was not convinced, as she shook her head roughly back and forth, "Nonono, she didn't love him! How could he? He's the bad guy! She can't love the bad guy!" Blood looked a little stunned at the statement, along with the others, but none the less his smirk grew wider. Picking up with tea, he began sipping from it again, ignoring his workers bickering.

Until his daughter said something that almost broke his heart.

"I hate the Mad Hatter! She should of gone with the Time Keeper!" she shouted.

Alice stared at her daughter, Dee and Dum burst out laughing, Elliot choked on his cake, and Blood did a perfect spit take with his tea.

"C-C-Clara! You shouldn't say that!" Was all that came from her mother's mouth.

Pushing herself away, Clara landed clumsily onto the ground. "But it's true! The Mad Hatter was mean! I like the Time Keeper better!" she stomped her foot to the ground, narrowing her eyes at her mother. "I think the Mad Hatter is a big meanie! I h-h-a..." a large yawn interrupted the child's unintentionally hurtful words. With wobbly legs, she grabbed onto her mothers legs, rubbing her eye with on hand. "Mommy? Can you sleep with me tonight? I'm afraid of the spiders coming into my bed." Another yawn escaped the girls pink lips.

With great care, Alice lifted her daughter into her arms mumbling, "Yes sweetie." With a contented sigh, Clara rubbed her cheek on her mothers neck, closing her blue eyes.

"Say goodnight to everyone sweetie." Alice spoke up.

"Good night Dee and Dum. Good night Uncle Elliot. Good night Daddy." Opening her eyes again, she gave a tired smile towards her father. "I love you." And with that, she clonked out in, a soft smile on her face.

When Alice was inside the mansion, and the twins started heading up themselves, the Hare slowly turned to look at his friend. "Well..." he clapped his hands together "That was a fun story."

"Shut up Elliot."

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><p><em>'Hmm...need more screws, a new screw driver.'<em> Julius looked down at his list as he made his way through the town. He had gotten up once the sun rose so he'd have enough time to work on the ever growing pile of clocks.

"This was easier when Alice was around." the Mortician muttered. He felt extremely foolish a second later for that comment. It'd been about 5 years since the foreigner had lived with him, but he couldn't help but notice that the Clock Tower still seemed empty without her.

All of the sudden the spot he had just stepped from was pelted with bullets. Julius jumped away as faceless people screamed and ran off in different directions. Anger and annoyance glowing in his eyes, Julius looked up to see who had tried to shoot him. Blood Dupre coolly stared at him from about 10 feet away. With a wave of his hand, the machine gun turned back into his walking cane, and began to turn away.

"Need something Dupre?" Julius called to him. The Hatter looked over his shoulder at him, giving him an evil smirk.

"I'm better than you." With that, he walked off, leaving a very confused bluenette.

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><p><strong>Yes! I got it done! Yaaay! That mini story that Alice was telling was a pain to write.<br>OMG! ...THIS CHAPTER IS ABOUT 6 PAGES LONG! IT ISN'T FREAKISHLY LONG!**

**Special thank yous go out to all of those who reviewed, exspecially to RomanticaKH1 for reminding me to finally get it out of the way. **

**And a very special thank you goes out to inallmybitterness, formally known as SweetCurse. She wrote a fanfic story based of THIS story. Isn't that cool? I beg of you, check it out! It's really good! But it doesn't follow my story, as I said before, it's a fanfic of this fanfic. Because of her story, I'm thinking of writing another TMHD fanfic, based off her fanfic, based off my fanfic. Does that make any sense? It does to me! =D**

**Also, I've been thinking about it, and I'm thinking of ending the sequel in a bittersweet way. And it'll be up to YOU reviewers to decide to make this story a trilogy. **

**Blarg...also, because I can't fit all of my Clara ideas in this story, I'm going to start "Clara Drabbles", which is basically all the little stories I couldn't add. Aslo, my poll is up now, and only 3 people voted. So unless you want "Watching My Back" to be the winner, vote now. The poll will close next week Wednsday. And I'll have to start brainstorming for "The White Rabbit's Son". MourningBlack asked me to do a AlicexPeter story where they have a son. Just a heads up, no, it will not have a sequel, sorry.**

***looks around* ok, Karma isn't here, so I'm just going to end it right here-  
>Karma: TELL ME ABOUT THE TWINS!<br>serima: damnit...take care everybody! r&r!**

**~serima**


	6. Chapter 6

**Clara is now 4 years old! Finally!  
>Did I ever mention I hate the way time goes in Wonderland? Cause I do...I REALLY do. So...even if it's totally wrong, I'm going to call the time loops days. And for the year thing...I have no friggen idea how that works sooo...for THIS story, when the Jokers aren't around, everyone goes through all the seasons at different time (Hatter Mansion- Autum, Clock Tower- Winter, etc.) but then they switch off. Is that okay? I hope so because IT CONFUSSES ME SOOOOO MUCH! But let's add more confusion! DX yes they go through all the seasons, but for each territory they have their main season that lasts longer than the rest. Then when Jokers come, seasons can be changed...yeah I just botched up everything did I? AHHHHHHH! IT'S SO CONFUSING! FORGIVE ME! DX DX DX DX <strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own HnKnA, so on and so forth.**

**Anyways, begin the chapter! I wonder how Blood will react...XD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6. The Little Theif<strong>

_'Goodness...it's so humid outside today.'_ a faceless servant thought, giving the roses water. He had half a mind to dump the small watering can over his face, but the consequences were too great. Plus it would ruin the polished floors.

With a small sigh, the servant made his way to the next vase of roses. Before he could tilt the can to water the beautiful flowers, a loud commotion shattered the quiet hallway, causing the poor man to yelp and almost knock the vase over. In a comedic fashion, he grabbed the vase in a full hug to keep it from falling over. He turned his eyeless face over to the cause of the 'almost catastrophe' as it came around the corner.

"Hide-and-seek!"

"Tag!"

"Hide-and-seek!"

"Tag!"

"Hide-and-seek!"

_'Those two...'_ he grumbled in his head. The Bloody Twins Dee and Dum were fighting over what game they wanted to play. Why they wanted to play games meant for more people was beyond him. His question was answered, when he saw the tiny figure wedged between the brothers.

The servant cocked his face to the side. "Little Miss?" at the sound of her name, the dizzy looking child looked up. "Ah! It's you!" The twins stopped their fighting, glancing down at their dear 'little sister'. "Him?" they asked together.

Clara bobbled her head up and down. "Yes! He gave me a lolly pop two days ago!" Freeing herself from the twins hands, she dashed over, hugging the startled servants legs. "Thank you very much! I really enjoyed it." With a final smile, she skipped back over to her self proclaimed brothers. Dum and Dee held her hands as they walked away, leaving the young servant amazed.

"Hey Onee-chan? How could you tell it was the same one?" Dum questioned.

"Yeah, they look all the same to me." Dum added.

Little Clara cutely scrunched up her face. "Um...I don't really know. I can just tell. They're all slightly different if you look really close." The brothers exchanged a confused look. They recalled the Hare telling them of a time when Alice had recognized a Hearts Guard. The strange talent must of been passed onto Clara as well.

"What are we playing Onii-sans?" Both boys blushed at the name. Just as they insisted on calling Clara their 'little sister' at times, she in turn, insisted that she call them her brothers. Gave them both a good laugh at the look on their Boss's face when Clara ran away from him, claiming she wanted to be with her brothers instead of him. Though they did get their pay cut for two weeks...

"Hide-and-seek." Dum answered. His brother shot him a glare. "Nooo...we're going to play tag." Both sucked in a huge breath, ready to start their argument again. Clara, even though only 4, saw that it was time to interfere. "How about Truth or Dare?" After a quiet 5 seconds, they shook their heads happily. "Great idea Onee-chan!"

Despite them being in the hallway, the trio plopped down right in the middle, and began their game.

The game only lasted for about 7 minutes. It was Dee's turn to dare Clara, but she wouldn't agree to it.

"You have to do it!" Dee argued.

The little girl shook her head quickly. "But I don't want to do it!"

"What's so bad about it? He's your dad after all." Dum countered.

"He wouldn't like it!"

The red twin rolled his eyes. "It's simple. As he's walking somewhere, just wrap your arms and legs around one of his, and hang on while he tries to walk. I think it'd be funny!" his brother in blue nodded next to him. The Bloody Twins eyes bored into Clara's, until she dropped her head.

"I-I-I don't want to bother him...Daddy scares me sometimes..." she admitted, giving a small sniff.

The Tweedle Brothers, however, were in no mood for a pity party. After a shared glance, they shrugged, gave her a pat on the head, and stood up to leave.

"Hey! Where are you going ?" she cried, her eyes big.

They were already walking away. "We're going off to have our own fun. It seems like you don't want to play. See you later Clara-chan!" Giving her an innocent smile, they continued their way, talking with each other.

"She's too afraid to do any dare." Dee whispered not too softly.

"Yeah, I bet she wouldn't even take Boss's hat if we dared her to."

When they finally turned the corner, Clara kept her gaze to the floor. Neither Dee or Dum stopped to think that maybe the child had hear them. _'Taking Daddy's hat...?'_

* * *

><p>The lady of the house heaved a sigh. She couldn't keep her concentration on the book currently in her lap.<p>

Blood, hearing his wife sigh, gave a small annoyed one of his own. "What seems to be bothering my lady?" he asked. His eyes never left his work, the pen scratching over the always piling papers.

Snapping the book closed, she returned it to its rightful place, then walked over to him. Giving him a small kiss on his head, she made her way to the door. "I'm going to find Clara. She's been so busy playing with Dee and Dum that I haven't had a chance to be alone with her."

Though he couldn't see them, Blood guessed that his dear Alice's eyes were getting teary eyed.

Placing his pen down, he brought a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes tightly; he needed to get this boring work done, but what Alice had said was true. The slackers that he pays always found a way to snatch his child away from them. He felt his eye twitch, remembering when Clara had pushed herself out of his arms to run off to her so called "brothers". It irked him to no end.

"Alice." He called her as she was walking out the door. "When you find her, bring her back here. We can read her a story." the sound of running footsteps came towards him, and he was pleasantly surprised when Alice connected their lips. Before he could even kiss back his love was out the door and down the hallway.

_'Alice...Clara...what are you two doing to me?'_ There was a time when many people feared him for many things, one of them being for his cold clock. The fear was still there, but it was almost an act. Slowly, the Outsider had sneaked her way in his life. Alice Liddel-now Dupre- used her smiles to warm him from the inside out. Before he knew it, another girl came. His daughter. Together mother and daughter were making him soft. This bothered the Hatter to no end. What bothered him the most...was that he was okay with it.

His Alice, his Clara. Both woman and girl belonged to him. He'd be damned if he let something bad ever happen to them. Clara especially, still being small and weak.

Glancing up to make sure Alice had closed the door, he allowed himself a brief moment of weakness.

Shoulder slumped, eyes closed, his head collided with his desk with a loud 'thud', throwing his arms over him, his fingers scratching in his scalp almost painfully. He couldn't help but wonder...

_'What would I do if she ever got hurt?'_

A long, high pitch scream echoed all throughout the Hatter Mansion.

Not even a second had passed after it ended when Blood knocked his chair over, sprinting out the door and down the hallway. He looked frantic and scared.

"CLARA!"

* * *

><p><em>'Owwie...that hurt!'<em> Clara thought to herself, rubbing her throat. She peaked her head under the cloth, but quickly drew in back when she heard loud footsteps coming at a fast pace.

She almost didn't make it as she heard a figure flash past the small table that acted as her camouflage.

"CLARA!" her father's yell was so loud she had to cover her ears. When she felt he was gone, she crawled out. Unfortunately, when she thought her head was in the clear, it ended up colliding painfully with the hard wood. She almost cried out, but stopped herself. The thought that her father would hear it was something she wasn't risking.

Looking both ways, Clara sprinted to her dad's study.

Once the sly child was inside, her search began. A joyful smile graced her features when she saw the prize resting on top of the coat hanger.

Like a cat hunting its prey, she sneaked up to the tall piece. Her cute face scrunched up, narrowing her blue eyes. How on earth was she supposed to get it down? The thought of pushing it down was out of the question. The loud noise would probably send her father back in. She tried jumping to reach it, but her attempts were futile.

Clara let out a moan. _'Onii-sans need to know I can do a dare. I can't give up now!'_ She sat herself down on the floor, thinking hard. What would make her tall enough to reach the hat...

Light bulb!

"That's it!" Clara proclaimed. Waisting no time, the girl dashed over to her father's chair. With much difficulty, she managed to push it over to the coat hanger. She flinched as it scratched along the wooden floor. Casting a quick glance towards the door, Clara climbed onto the chair and stood on her tip toes. Wobbling to and fro, the girl clenched the furniture for support. "Just...a little...further..." she muttered, stretching out her arm. The hanger was starting to wobble, and balancing on your toes on a cushy chair was harder than it looked.

With a quick intake of breath, she bent her knees and jumped.

Her tiny hands grasped the ridge of the hat. She smiled, feeling ready to burst with joy.

That fire quickly died when she, along with the coat hanger, plummeted quickly to the ground. She braced herself, wrapping her legs around the thin wooded poll.

With a loud mixture of a thud and a short and loud cry, Clara crashed painfully down. Giving her head a shake, she slowly raised herself up on unsteady legs. Pain shot through her whole body, and she felt her right cheek and hands pulsing.

A victory smirk so frighteningly similar to the Mad Hatter spread across her face. Clara held the large top hat over her head, allowing herself to twirl in a circle. She had done it. She had gotten a hold of her father's hat. Now Dee and Dum had to say they were sorry.

"Clara!"

She froze. Her father's voice called out for her.

"Clara come out!" Clara's heart sped up as his foot steps became louder, and louder, and louder, and louder...then softer and softer and softer, until they he was finally gone.

_'H-h-he could have come in! What if he comes back?'_

Clara was in panic mode now. She couldn't be caught, not now. The spun around in circles, looking for a place to hide, but there was none to be seen. Not behind the desk, not behind the couch. He'd find her easily if he decided to look around, and she couldn't risk it.

There was only one logical thing to do.

Run out of the room searching for Dee and Dum as fast as she could.

And that's exactly what she did.

* * *

><p>Both brothers were running around the first floor of the mansion, almost bumping into the busy servants. Only a few minutes ago did they hear Clara scream, but nobody had found her yet. Alice was in complete hysteria, having heard the scream while she was in the gardens.<p>

Where she was, nobody knew, but they weren't about to give up.

"Dee?" said Dum in a quiet voice.

"Yes Dum?" Dee responded looking in a room.

"I feel bad about leaving Clara-chan now." he admitted.

Dee spun around, staring into his twins eyes. "Me too. We shouldn't of left her alone."

Moving onto the next hallway, another thought crossed Dums mind.

"What do you think happened to her?" His brother paused, looking down at the ground. "I don't want to think what could have hurt our Onee-chan. We'll ask when we find her." This didn't make Dum feel any better. Releasing a long sigh, he slid down to the floor.

"Dum?" Dee asked his brother. He knelt down in front of him, patting his shoulder. "I'm sure she probably just saw a spider and over reacted. She does it all the time-" the red twin never got to finish comforting his brother, as their least favorite person came stomping into view.

"You two! Why are you always slacking off?" Elliot finally caught up to the twins, panting slightly.

"Damn Newbie-hare! Can't you leave us alone?" Both Dee and Dum shouted at him. This caused the Hare's ears to stick straight up, quivering in anger.

"Listen you little-"

"Dee! Dum!" a small voice interrupted. All three turned to see little Clara running at them. "Clara-chan!" they both shouted.

Gasping for breath, the small girl fell to her knees, holding an object behind her back. She snapped her head up to stare at her best friends, smiling her victory smile.

"Clara!"Elliot shouted for joy. She was safe and smiling, although the word 'unharmed' couldn't be said. The poor child sported a big bruise on her right cheek, both knees were scraped, and she seemed to have a slight wobble in her run.

"I did it! I did it! I did your dare!" her gaze went to the Hare's face. "They told me I couldn't do it, but I did it!" She puffed out her chest, holding her head high. This made the twins glance at each other, wondering why she would look bruised up from clinging to their Boss's leg. "You mean the leg one?" they asked. Clara gave a wild laugh. "No silly! The other one!"

_'Other one?'_ the thought ran through the blue and red twins head. Elliot felt his ears tingle, feeling something bad was about to happen. He quickly sent the twins an evil glare, but for once they looked confused and innocent. That wasn't good.

"Uhh...Clara...what did they dare you to do?" he asked, scared to hear the answer.

If possible, her grin became wider. Proudly, she pulled out the object the hid behind her back. "Take Daddy's hat of course!"

Three jaws hit the ground. "C-C-Clara-chan!" Dum exclaimed. "When on earth did we dare you to do that?" Dee shouted.

_'How the HECK did she do that?'_ the unlikely trio thought. Before either she could answer them, a thundering mixture between a yell and a growl rang through out the entire mansion, sending a cold shiver down their backs, including little Clara's.

"WHERE THE _**HELL**_ IS MY HAT?"

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><p>Fear. That was the one thing storming inside the Hatter. Fear. And he hated it. Nobody had found his daughter, and both he and Alice were starting to panic.<p>

The odd thing was, he could have sworn the scream had come from around the corner. But when Blood had reached it, his Clara wasn't there. So he went on a rampage through the entire mansion.

The Hatter decided that the best plan was to start from where he first heard the scream; in his room.

There was little point in returning into the room. As he rounded the corner, he tried calling out for her. "Clara!" No response.

_'Damn!'_ "Clara come out!"

Again Blood was met with silence. Not good. He turned another corner, this time going in the opposite direction from before. As he was going down the hallway, he heard a door open, followed by the sound of tiny feet.

The Mafia Boss whipped around, walking quickly back to where he heard the sound.

Confusion hit him when he saw that his study door was opened wide.

"What the hell?" Blood muttered darkly, a dark glare resting on his face. Whoever thought that it was a good idea to enter his study without him was a very stupid person wishing for death.

With great speed he slammed one of the doors open, what he saw made his eyes pop out.

"What the** hell**?"

His coat hanger had been toppled over, and the chair that had previously been behind his desk was right next to it. Whoever came in needed the chair to get reach the hight of the coat...

Then it dawned on him. The scream...she wasn't in trouble at all...it was a diversion.

Fury was starting to come. Clenching his fist and clenching his jaw, Blood started to growl. Did she even think about what he would go through? Did it ever accour to her that he would worry-no, panic over her? What would cause her to do such a stupid thing?

Glaring at the fallen furniture, he noticed something. His jacket was still there, with his gloves stuck in the pockets, but another piece of clothing was missing.

"WHERE THE _**HELL**_ IS MY HAT?"

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><p>"Onii-san! Put me down! I can walk just fine!" Clara cried out.<p>

Not even a few seconds after Blood had yelled, Dee grabbed Clara and Dum grabbed the hat. Holding Clara under his right arm, Dee and his brother ran like the dickens. Even though she was in a very odd position, it didn't stop her from asking any questions.

"Why are we running Onii-sans?" The question was asked to innocently. She had no idea how much trouble she was really in. To the Tweedles, taking their Bosses hat was as good as walking up to him, put his gun to your head and saying "shoot me". No doubt Blood wasn't going to even imagine harming his precious daughter, but his anger would have no end, and the little girl was going to be punished some way. To keep their Clara from harm for as long as they could, running seemed like the best plan to go with at this point.

Panting and wheezing, the twins stopped at the bottom of a staircase. Dee place Clara on a step, then both brothers plopped down on either side of her, with Dum handing her the dreaded to hat. All three were oblivious to a slowly approaching shadow at the top.

"Clara, why would you go through with that dare?" Dee asked, staring at Clara. She stared back at him, eyes wide with confusion.

"Yeah, don't you know how dangerous that is? Boss doesn't like anyone touching his hat." Dum continued.

"At least with our dare, we knew you could get away with it, because of all your cuteness."

In response she hung her head. They heard little sniffling sounds, but it wasn't until they saw glistening droplets dropping from bang covered eyes.

Upon seeing this, this sent the boys into-for a lack of a better word- anime like spass attack.

"Ahhhh! Clara-can! Onee-chan! Why are you crying? We didn't mean to make you cry! Onee-chan, please don't cry!"

Hearing these words, the little Dupre lifted her head that felt very heavy, looking back and forth between her brothers. The tears were still slipping down over her cheeks. "Onii-sans said I couldn't do any dares...I just wanted to show you that I can play with you...did I do the dare wrong?"

There was a long pause. Clara could hear her heart thumping in her chest. Soft expressions and tender eyes took over the Bloody Twins faces. Both knelt in front of Clara, each one taking one of her tiny hands.

"Aw Onee-chan," they cooed together. "We'll always want to play with you." said Dum.

"Even if you don't play the game right, we'll teach you how." continued Dee.

"And you played the game very well."

"Did we mention that was a very brave thing to do?"

When Clara shook her head, this caused the boys to pull her into a warm hug. "We love you Onee-can!" They chanted. "I-I love you too Onii-sans!" she cried, nuzzling into their connecting shoulders.

"We love you so much!" they cried.

"I love her more." a new, light voice joined.

Standing at the top of the stairs, was Alice Dupre. Her expression was soft and caring.

Her dress resembled her old one when she first came to Wonderland, only the blue was a shade darker. The dress reached about 3 inches below her knees, and her apron wasn't as long. She wore in her hair her trademark blue bow.

"Mommy!" "Onee-san!"

Alice started to make her way down the stairs. She only sat down when Clara sprinted up to meet her halfway. The Foreigner was more than relieved to see that her daughter was safe, and the slight anger that she felt when she heard that she was never in trouble died as she listened in on the conversation.

"Onee-san...are we in trouble...?" nervousness began to take over the boys. Alice laughed softly. "Not with me, no. With Blood I can't be sure. Speaking of which," Alice extended her arm. Dum quickly took the hint and handed Alice the hat. Checking to see that the roses were still in tact, she gently pushed it into Clara's hands, "you need to give your father's hat back. I have a feeling he's not too pleased to see that it's gone."

She lowered her head. "I'm sorry mommy...I didn't mean for daddy to get angry...will he dock my pay?"

Dumbfounded expressions were on all three of their faces. "Wait...what?" Alice asked.

Clara shrugged, "Dee and Dum are always complaining about getting their pay docked, so I thought that it might happen to me." Looking around, she tugged her mother sleeve, a sign to come closer. "What does daddy pay me in?" she whispered in her ear.

She couldn't keep it in any longer. Alice burst out laughing. "Oh Clara honey, daddy isn't going to dock your pay, he doesn't pay you. At the very least you're grounded."

"Grounded? But why?" she asked shocked.

Her mother began to respond, but someone else beat her to it. "You sent the entire Mansion into a frenzy looking for you. We all thought you were hurt, or worse. You made me leave my desk when I had work to do."

The group turned to see Blood appearing from the shadows. An icy glare was set on his handsome features. He wore he white coat and gloves, clenching his cane in his hand. Taking long strides, he made his way to his daughter, snatching his hat. She flinched as he settled his eyes on her. His anger was practically smacking her in the face. When her father leaned down, he tightly grasped her hand. "We need to have a talk young lady." With that, he dragged Clara away, with Alice's calls in the back ground.

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><p>When they finally reached his study, Clara took note that the chair and the coat hanger had been placed in their proper places.<p>

She glances at her father, who was setting his hat on top of his desk. He glanced at her, then pointed at the couch. Deciding it was best to listen, little Clara climbed on, allowing her white Mary Jane feet to hand over the edge.

Blood watching his daughter with narrow eyes. He found it amusing how she didn't look up at him. She could probably sense that she was in big trouble; which she was.

He cleared his throat, starting to speak. "What you did today was stupid, foolish, and uncalled for." When she still didn't look up, Blood raised his voice. "I have a lot of papers that need to get done," he pointed at this paper filled desk, "and this was the last thing I needed today." Still no response. The Hatter took it upon him self, striding over to her. He practically loomed over his daughter; she was completely engulfed is in big shadow. "I have better things to do than run around all day like an idiot." Blood's voice was louder, angrier. "Next time you decide that it's a good idea to scream for fun, do it someplace else!"

Clara mumbled incoherent words. "Repeat that?" growled Blood.

A tiny sniff was heard. "I won't do it again."

Blood smirked. "Of course you won't." He turned to head back towards his desk, but quickly spun back around when his daughter spoke up.

"Does daddy hate me?" they stared at each other for a while; Blood's shocked eyes to Clara's watery ones. With a sigh, he walked over to the couch and sat besides her.

"That's probably one of the most idiotic thing I've heard in my lifetime."

The answer was simple and harsh, and it only made Clara droop her shoulders. "Yes it is...you do hate me." As she tried to push herself off the couch, she yelped when she was practically yanked on his lap. He held her close, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Dear child, I could never hate you, ever if you tried to kill me. It's a special bond that a father shares with his daughter. No matter how mad I'll get, the word hate won't even come to mind. Even if you do stupid things, I'll always be your biggest fan. I love you very much." Blood gave her a light kiss on her head, hugging her even closer.

Clara sighed, hugging her father back by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Am I still in trouble?"

The question made Blood pause, but in the end he sighed and answered, "No...I think I scared you enough by our talk."

"Yay!" Immediately she pushed herself out of his grasp, running towards the door.

"Young lady, just where do you think you're going?" He called out to her. Annoyance pricked at him. Here they just had a nice father, daughter moment, and now she was up and about againt as if nothing happened!

"To play with my Onii-sans!"

Blood's eye widened and his jealousy spiked up. Did her own father come second place in her life?

Before Clara could reach up to grab the handle, she found herself being carried swiftly back to the couch by her forearms.

"Your punishment; you're not allowed to play with those two for 15 time cycles." Clara was confused at the angry tone in his voice. "You can survive that long with your parents, can't you?"

_'Stubborn child, when will you learn to see what can easily get you in trouble?'_

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><p><strong>Oooooo do I sense some jealousy in Blood? Well what father wouldn't be jealous if some boys were getting more attention from his own daughter? I felt that Blood was out of character towards the end, but we needed a REAL father daughter moment in this story, and this seemed like the best place to put it. Anyways I'm glad it's done. <strong>

**I'm going to concentrate on Watching My Back now. This story is 11 pages long, so that should keep you entertained for a while. I should have WMB up by Friday, then I'll concentrate on chapter 7.**

**I'm excited! Guess who we get to see? I'll give you a hint: we've heard about him (them?) in a past chapter, and he's (they're?) the only character(s?) that we haven't seen yet! If you haven't figured it out yet...well then you'll just have to wait!**

**But in all honesty the chapter I'm really looking forward to is when Clara's 9, and it's the 'Father, Daughter Dance'. That chapter will be in 2 parts because I personly think it shows us how straned Blood's relationship is with Clara, but in the end he's a loving father...yep...bet you'd never thought you'd hear that sentence! :P **

**Please read and review! And sorry if this chapter isn't very good -**

**~serima**


	7. Chapter 7

**I have no excuse. I lost inspiration, it's not fair that I left you guys hanging. Yesyesyes, I went back on my word. Why did I do that? Because of school and writers block. Yes, school really can have that effect on writing. It's not as good as the others, but it will get me back on track. **

**And if you're wondering why this chapter replaces chapter 7, it's because chapter 7 was the main reason why I stopped. I didn't know where to go from there, because I couldn't think of a way that Clara could've avoided the Jokers eyes, and I didn't want her to meet them yet. And I just lost the will to write. I know I've made some people very unhappy. I feel absolutely awful. And if you don't believe that, fine, but it's the truth. I'm sure there are many writers out here that try to finish stories, and in the end just can't do it. But I'll try for you guys. Enjoy.**

**! UPDATE 2/4/13 ! I changed Clara's age to 6, because I don't want her getting too close to 10. So for those who re-read this chapter, no you are not going crazy, it's just me changing my mind. And if you're reading this for the first time, she was originally 8 in this chapter**

**I only own Clara, the rest are not my own.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Just One Minute<strong>

6-year-old Clara was walking hand-in-hand with her mother down in town. She loved it when it was just her and her mother, and no servants around. It made her feel like the other children that she saw running in the streets.

That is, until she saw some little girl or boy with their father. He would either pat their heads, pick them up and twirl them around, or let the child ride on their shoulders. Seeing these acts, the tiny Dupre would lower her head, allowing her mother to guide her. It just wasn't fair.

Now Clara didn't exactly know what her father did for a living. Blood had intended on telling her, but both Alice and Vivaldi put their foot down. It wouldn't do her any good if he accidentally scared her for life. All that she knew, was that he was very busy, very important, and couldn't be seen being affectionate in public. There wasn't much of a difference back home. Sometimes he would place her on his lap, and read her a story, or show her the different types of tea, or lift her in his arms, showing her the beautiful china he had for his tea parties. But that was mostly it. Otherwise, it was her mother, her aunt, her onii-sans, basically everybody but the stupid Stick Ears (her nickname for Peter), gave her more attention.

After she had returned, she went straight to her room. Once safely behind her door, the tears began the flow.

_'It's not fair!'_ the words repeated over and over in her head. She didn't even have the will power to bring herself to her bed. She settled for the floor, weeping into her hands. Her sobs grew louder and louder, and her shoulders began shaking. Days would go bye, and she would see little girls with their fathers. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair!

_Knock, knock._

"Little Miss? I have new sheets for your bed."

Clara shook her head, and shouted a wet, "go away!" into her hands.

A faster set of knocks followed the last. "Little Miss? Are you alright?"

This time Clara didn't respond, falling flat face on the floor, burrowing her face into her arms. She didn't want to talk, she just wanted to be alone!

The faceless maid opened the door, quickly place the sheets on the dresser by the doorway, and knelt down next to the sobbing child.

"Why little Miss! Where are these tears coming from?"

"M-m-my eyyyes!" her response was muffled. Carefully, the maid lifted her shoulders and head from the ground to her aproned lap. With gentle strokes, her fingers combed through Clara's hair. It soothed her and calmed her, but only a little. After what seemed like 10 minutes, Clara calmed down just enough to speak.

"Shall I fetch your mother?" the maid asked tenderly, as if the tiny Dupre was her own daughter.

Clara shook her head, not raising her head. "No Marissa, please don't. She'll just yell at daddy."

The maid nodded, having gotten over the fact that Clara, like her mother, could tell the Faceless apart from one another. Though she was confused at what Alice would yell at the Master about.

_'Then again, it's not that uncommon.'_

"Little Miss, please, tell me what your trouble is."

Still shaking, Clara looked up at the faceless maid named Marissa. Her face was red, her eyes were puffy, and tears were still falling down her cheeks. With an encouraging smile from Marissa, she opened her mouth. "It's j-just that…I miss my daddy!"

"Your father is always here…" the maid began.

"No, no, I me-an, that I can n-n-never-er be with hi-m as my d-d-addy. He's alw-ways worrieeed about his s-stupid-id rebutation!"

With a small laugh, Marissa gave her a small hug, as well as making a mental note to teach Clara how to correctly pronounce 'reputation'.

"Oh little Miss, your father does love you very much. I know, I can see it in his eyes when he's around you." She lifted the child's head with her finger under her chin, "But you must remember; your father has a very important job. Yes, I know it's hard to be the daughter of the Mad Hatter, but there is one good thing."

"And w-what's that?"

"You have a very loving mother, who makes up the affection of both of them."

Clara thought for a moment, her mind racing first of her mother, then of her father. "But…I don't want just my mother's. I…I want my father's too!"

With that, Clara jumped up, and dashed out the door, leaving Marissa startled and confused on the floor.

Though her knees' grew tired, and it became harder to breathe, she kept on running, trying her hardest not to slow down. The stair proved to be tricky, but she still didn't stop. She was running so fast, that when she reached the door of Blood's study, she ran right into the door. Only then she took a few seconds to catch her breath.

Blood was getting up from his desk, while pinching the bridge of his nose.

_'So much damn paper work. And Alice is forcing me to the Summer Fair in town. That damn stubborn woman.'_

He sighed in frustration, but was also, to his displeasure, grateful to his wife. He hadn't spent real quality time with Alice, except when they retired to bed. And she normally fell asleep quite quickly. And Clara…his little Clara, he hadn't had a real moment with her in the longest time. It made him envious of Alice, when she would return from whatever trip she made outside the Mansion, or come in after a long day, telling him of what adorable thing Clara did that day, and how she wished he could've been there.

The Hatter punched his desk, letting some of his frustration out. Nobody would ever know, but he longed for the normal life of a Faceless. Before he was content with being the dreaded Mad Hatter of Heartland, and it didn't change when Alice came. In fact, it made him grateful that he was the Hatter, because he could protect her more. But once Clara came, and his time with her grew shorter, he found himself sometimes, just sometimes, wish that he was a normal man, with a wife and a child.

"I need a break." He grumbled, walking over to a random bookshelf. As he reached for it, he heard his door open. Expecting it to be Alice, he didn't look up, only greeting the person with, "Good evening love."

"Daddy?" a breathless voice called.

_'Damn. Wrong person!'_

Blood looked to see his daughter panting, hanging onto the door handle for what looked like dear life.

"Clara?"

"Daddy…" she stared at him for a few more seconds, giving the Hatter enough time to take in her puffy eyes, red face, and running nose.

"I…I…" she tried to say.

Blood held up a hand, pausing her words. "Clara, take a deep breath, think for a moment, and say what you want to say."

He didn't expect Clara to launch herself from the door, releasing a loud sob, and latching onto his legs.

"Just one minute!" she cried.

"Gah, Clara! What-?" the Hatter was befuddled, wondering what had gotten into her. Placing a gloved hand on the top of her head, hopping it would calm her down, he tried to speak to her.

"Clara, one minute for-"

"Just one minute!" she cried again. "Just one minute, I want you told hold my hand, around the other people!"

Blood didn't say a word. He listened to his daughters tearful woes.

"I'm tired of seeing other little boys and girls getting their parents l-love! I want to h-hold your hand! I d-don't c-care who sees!" She looked up at her father, her eyes pink. Reaching up, she took hold of her father's hand, clasping it between her two small ones. "Please? Just for one minute?"

* * *

><p>Fireworks, good food, fun trinkets for all, sparklers, and even more, allowed the people of Heartland to laugh and to share in each others company. Too bad it was unsettling to our favorite Hatter.<p>

The noise bothered him, the children were screaming, and Elliot had lead the group all the way over to the carrot stand. All over he saw the dreaded color, turning him a light shade of green.

The handful of guards were around, making sure nothing ruined the so called 'fun'. Turning to his right meant seeing Elliot gorge himself in carrot pastries, so he chose to turn to his left. In this direction, Alice was being dragged into an argument between his Gate Keepers. A few feet in front of him was Clara, who was laughing loudly as faceless maid, who he heard Clara call her 'Marissa', as she pointed out to a puppet show.

He watched his daughter run over to his wife, pulling on her hand, half leaning, half dragging her over to the puppets. The Hatter paused, not too close to the other parents standing in the back watching their children, but close enough to hear the story.

It was nothing special, just a man trying to run away from his wife, and a guard came in, beating the man with a stick. Then both man and woman started beating the guard withtheir own sticks.

_'What…kind of puppet show is this?'_ But the children laughed, as the puppets shouted out words he couldn't understand, including little Clara. His attention wasn't on the puppet show for long, as his gaze drifted over to the pair of brunettes.

Clara laughed, and would tug on Alice's sleeve to make sure she saw it. Alice would nod, whisper something sweetly in her ear, and laughed lightly along with the other parents when the children reacted to the show.

As though she felt his eyes, his daughter turned her head around, seeing him. She didn't laugh, and it seemed that she tuned out the show in front of her. She only stared at him, with her sad little blue eyes. With a twirling motion of his finger, Clara looked back to the show, quickly getting distracted. At one point, the guard turned to the audience, speaking in an ear splitting annoying voice, to Blood at least.

"Children! This man has run away from his wife, who loves him very much! Should we punish him?"

"Yes!" The children chorused.

"I agree! Now, the man hates the song, 'Mary Had a Little Lamb! For one minute, he has to listen to it!"

_'One minute?'_ The words clicked in her head. Immediately, she turned back to her father, getting up as quickly as she could. Alice called out to her, but seeing that she was heading towards Blood, she let her go. She stood up, taking a few steps, watching.

Clara reached her father, staring up at him with pleading eyes. He stared back at her. All the people around, would he dare?

Would he dare to let people see his weakness, his family? Alice was one thing, but people dared not to mess with her. When Clara came, not only was his reputation in danger, but her own safety, and Alice's. They might try and take her away, use her against him. He couldn't risk Clara's safety. Alice could hold her own, but he worried for her as well. Would he dare, let people see his soft part of his heart?

In the background, the guards voice rang. "I'll count, and you sing as loud as you can! Ready?"

Blood held out his hand, giving her a small, encouraging smile. A smile that said, 'take it'.

"Ready!"

She eagerly took it in her small hand.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…_

She lead him over to the sparklers, but he held her back, not wanting her to get burned.

_8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16…_

They watched a man juggle the sparklers, with Clara gasping as they changed colors. A man looked up from his stand, seeing them out of the corner of his eye.

_17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24…_

The Twins passed bye, trying to grab Clara's spare hand. Blood side stepped them, pulling Clara with him. They wined. A few more people saw them.

_25, 26, 27, 28, 29…_

Blood led his daughter away from the Twins, ignoring their complaints, and Clara grabbed his hand with her other one. More people began to notice

_30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38…_

Alice giggled as her daughter pulled Blood over to a small fruit stand. The woman gave her a strawberry for free, because she was so cute. She stared a bit at the Hatter, and he blinked once, pulling Clara away, while she called out a thank you to the woman.

_39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46…_

Clara paused to eat the strawberry. She offered some to her father, who declined with a small shake of his head. He felt the stared. The children sang louder and louder, the puppet guard still counting.

_47, 48, 49, 50…_

Blood heard it, but Clara didn't. Throwing the leafy part of the strawberry on the ground, she looked up at her father, smiling at him. She squeezed his hand.

_51, 52, 53…_

Clara turned her head at the sight of a lone firework going off. The small show was beginning now, but the grand finally wouldn't happen for some time. Some of the children ooed and awed, while some kept on singing.

_54, 55, 56, 57…_

Clara had just began pulling Blood's arm. She didn't hear, she only saw the fireworks. Some people continued to stare. Some even began to whisper. Blood could hear them. He looked Clara.

_58, 59…_

He gave her hand one final squeeze.

"60!"

He let go. Blood had to pull his hand out of his daughters grasp. She started up at him, startled as he pulled away. The childrens laughter could be heard in the distance. They turned to echos. A female voice called her name. It sounded faint. Her father turned away from her, disappearing into the crowd.

"Clara!" Alice knelt beside her, giving her shoulders a small shake. Blinking, she turned her head towards her mother. "Yes?"

"Dee and Dum wanted to watch these fireworks with you. The next batch, you're watching with me and Ace!"

Clara let her mother lead her towards Dee and Dum, as they harassed Elliot. Marissa came from the crowd, holding a bag of strawberries. She had promised Alice and Clara that she would buy some for them to eat. Clara had told her mother that she wanted Marissa to have some as well.

_'It was just for a minute…'_

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><p><strong>I wanted to get this up. Because the orignal chapter 7 was supposed to be in 2 parts, chapter 8 will be a continuation of the night. This time, I know what will happen. I stayed up til 3:03 am to finish this. It's the very least I could do. Again, sorry I didn't keep up on my last promise. I'm not lying when I said I had writer's block, but I had very little will power to finish this story. But no, I'm not leaving this site. There are many stories I wish to tell, and Clara's story MUST be finished. BUT another reason why this took so long, is because I had to throw the original story out. It got really dark, Clara became this Batman like person called, "The Nightengale", and worked with the faceless people in destorying clocks, a weird romance between older Ace and 17 year old Clara, it was weird, I had nowhere to go with it, so it got pitched. I'm literally coming up with this as I go along. This ended up being 6 pages. <strong>

**It feels good to write again, I won't lie. What really gave me inspiration to write, was that I met one of the readers of my story at my school. Basically, her words made me want to continue this story, and she is the reason why I was able to write this chapter this weekend. Thank you to her, I can't say her real name because I don't know her fanfiction name, but you know who you are!**

**Another thankyou goes out to Ravenclaw Writer! She doesn't read this story, but she gave me a few pointers on how to get out of my writer's block, so she deserves a thankyou as well.**

**I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as funny or as good as the others, but I just need to write a chapter to get back into the swing of things. Also, I put in a lot of Father and Daughter feels for you. I love Clara. But boy, I can't wait til she's a teenager. Then the boys will come in :3**

**Thank you for those who waited, and I am very, very sorry! :( I won't be able to update again this week because of exams, but I'll write out some ideas for furture chapters. Thank you all for sticking by this story!**

**~ serima**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes yes it's late, but it's still tonight! And you guys thought I wouldn't have updated. And for those of you who check tomorrow and are thinking, "YOU LIIIIIIIIED!" No, I did not. I just got it in late. I have a real reason this time! I had to leave for a birthday party around 4:30, and the chapter wasn't finished. I was gone for hours. BUT because I didn't want to disapoint you guys again, I left the party EARLY to get this done, and and turn it in for you guys! I explain more at the bottom, you need to read it! **

**I only own Clara! The rest belong to Quin Rose! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8. What If...<strong>

As the people watched the beginning fireworks, nobody paid attention to a few men in black suits, as they trailed behind the Hatter. He knew they were there, and led them behind a building. With a flick of hit wrist his trusty hat was a machine gun.

It took 10 seconds to take all five of them down.

_'They should know better.'_

There were only five of them, so there was no real joy in the sport._ 'They could have at least had others hiding in the trees. How boring.'_

Normally, he would have brought out his gun and killed them during the fair, maybe provoking others to join in. Elliot and his Gate Keepers would have probably joined in. But of course, Clara would have saw, or at least hear the noise.

He remembered briefly explaining to her, that most people in Wonderland, especially the Role Holders, had guns, but, being 7 at the time, didn't quite understand what purpose they served. Of course he would have loved to tell her, but Alice jumped in with a hasty visit to Julius. And, to his ever annoyance, Clara squealed in joy, and ran right out the door without a single, 'goodbye'. He had watched from a window as Alice had to chase her down so she wouldn't go too far.

As he returned to the fair, the firs fireworks had ended. People began to go about their own way, returning to whatever it was they were doing before.

As usual, Elliot found him quickly, and began talking about the normal business.

Blood only half listened, as he spotted Alice and Clara not far off. They were quite the pair, in their almost matching black dresses. For a brief moment, the Hatter felt annoyed.

Before Alice had come to Wonderland, he was a womanizer, feared, and had not a true care in the world. When Alice first appeared, he saw her as a new plaything, and thought she could be wooed easily. That proved to be a challenge, and took him a very long time to bring her around. During that time, Blood started to feel for the Outsider, and soon found himself falling in love with her.

Naturally, he didn't care at first what anybody thought, and just wanted to be with her. A year later, it dawned on him that people had started to see him as a weak, love-sick puppy.

A few massacres later, everybody stayed out of his way.

Then Clara came along, and the rumors started flying again.

_'Damn…'_ He growled in his head, as he continued to converse with Elliot, going deeper into the crowd.

* * *

><p>"Here, have another one!" Clara held up a big, ripe strawberry to her mother. They had found a spot to sit down, Alice giving Melissa the rest of the night to herself. Both were content, and Clara was half way in forgetting the sting in her heart from earlier.<p>

"Alright, alright." The Foreigner chuckled, taking a bite. "Oh, I can't finish it! Clara?" she tried to get Clara to take a bite, but she shook her head. "You have to eat all of it! Then I'll eat one."

She stared at her daughter, with a smile on her face. "Honey, you said that three strawberries ago. You've only eaten one." She picked up another one, this one smaller. She held it closer to the child's lips, but she turned her head away.

"I want to share them all!"

"But you love them! And Melissa bought these specially for you." Alice pressed on, but Clara was reluctant. In her mind, it was logical to give as many away as possible, to make people happy. It was her way of distracting herself.

"Nope! Finish yours, then I'll eat this one."

Alice eyed her daughter, trying to hold a stare, but her smile was creeping back on. "Promise?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically. With a nod, Alice finished off the giant strawberry. When she swallowed the delicious berry, she held out the tiny one. Clara shook her head. "It's small enough, you should have that one too!"

"Clara!"

Feeling clever, she bit her bottom lip, and moved her left hand from behind her back. The index finger and the middle were crossed. "Ha! Now your turn!"

"You have to have your turn first!"

"Nooooo!"

"Yeeeeees!" they both laughed. Alice pulled her daughter into a hug, jokingly pushing the strawberry towards her mouth. Clara giggled with glee.

"No, no, no!"

"Yes, yes ,yes!"

"Nope!"

"Yes!"

"Maybe!" a new voice joined in.

Both Dupres' looked up to see, who else, than Ace. He sauntered over to them, his trade mark smile plastered all over his face. "What are you talking about?" He finally stopped when he was in front on them, leaning down slightly.

Alice released Clara, who immediately began fishing through the bad for a good strawberry.

"Clara and I were given a bag of strawberries to share, but she's giving them all to me, and won't eat more than one."

The Knight cocked his head to one side. He turned his attention to the girl. "But don't you love strawberries?"

The child nodded vigorously, and held up another strawberry. "For you Ace!"

"Oh thanks Clara. Make sure it's perfect, just for me, okay?"

Clara looked it over for a second. When her head was down, Ace quickly looked at Alice, winked, then turned back when Clara looked up again. Confused, Alice kept her eyes on the Knight.

Ace reached for the strawberry with his gloved hand, but then quickly pulled back. He straightened himself, putting his hand on the side of his head. "But wait, what about you?"

She shrugged. "I'll one after you."

"Hmm…I don't believe you."

"Haha, but you have to!"

Ace went down on one knee, and took the tiny strawberry from Alice's hand, and held it up to Clara. "How about this? You take this one, I'll take that one, and we'll both have them at the same time. Deal?"

She pondered it for a moment, then smiled. "Deal!"

They exchanged the berries, and, making sure the other took a bite, both ate their respective berries. Alice let out a happy smile, shaking her head slightly. Ace wiped his glove on his jacket, and Clara chewed slowly on the strawberry, taking in the sweetness of it. Ace turned his attention to Alice.

"So, where's the father of the family."

Alice frowned, and Clara's framed drooped a bit. "Blood is somewhere."

"Probably with Uncle Elliot…"

The trio looked up when the crowd began moving. The last set of fireworks were about to go off.

Quickly, Ace grabbed both hands of the Dupres', pulling them off from the bench. "Fireworks! I believe you two promised this batch to me." And, because this is Ace, he took off in the opposite direction as everyone else. Alice immediately dug her heals in a crack.

"Ace! It's that way!" She pointed to where everyone was going. He only laughed, turned around, and let Alice lead the way. "Please don't let go of her hand." she added. It was a natural fear for a mother.

He looked down at the girl, who was running to keep up. He looked back to Alice. "I promise to hold on to her the entire time during the fireworks."

They made it to the field, people taking their place. They were somewhere towards the back.

Being a sneaky man, he put his arm around Alice, pulling her closer to his side. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she gave him a small glare. He gave her an innocent look. "Just to make sure I don't lose the mother. You want to see the fireworks too, right?"

"It won't matter." A small voice came from his other side. "I hardly saw the last ones. Too many big peopleeeeaaahhh!"

She squirmed a bit, but was surprised to find herself on top of Ace's shoulders. She latched onto his head, keeping her balance.

Ace titled his head. "Woah Clara! You're getting a bit too old for this." He looked to her mother. "Is she growing everyday?"

He was a bit surprised to see her giving him a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"

"Doing what?"

The fireworks began. Clara ooed and awed with the rest of the crowd. Alice leaned up to Ace's ear, whispering, "You've never been this…well, for the lack of a better word…_fatherly_, before."

Suddenly Ace's smile was gone. The Knight gave her a hard stare, the light gone from his eyes. She gulped. This was the Ace she remembered. Then he said a piercing comment.

"It's not my fault her father's slacking in his duties." Alice glared, fuming. How badly she wanted to smack him. But for Clara, she literally bit her tongue. But he didn't stop there.

"If you gave me the chance," a smile came, but it didn't reach his eyes, "and didn't push me away, then maybe this moment, could've been your life. Maybe…"

"Ace! Mommy!" She pulled on Ace's hair lightly. "You're missing the fireworks!"

"Haha, sorry Clara!" He smiled largely again. "Your mom and I were just talking."

For the rest of the show, Alice kept her head down, and Ace watched the fireworks with Clara, still holding her hand. Towards the end, one thought entered the little Dupre's mind. _'I wish daddy was here to see this.'_

* * *

><p>It was dark. People were heading home. Alice and Ace caught up with the rest of the Hatter family, minus Blood, and Clara was asleep in the Knight's arms. There was a small fight about who would hold Clara on the way back, and despite Alice's protests, Ace won in the end. He only won, on account that Clara had grabbed onto his jacket in her sleep when Elliot tried to pull her away.<p>

Before the group was able to leave, a familiar hatted figure blocked their path.

"Blood!" Alice cried in relief, rushing towards him. She straightened his jacket out of habit. "Where were you?"

"Away…" was all he replied. "We're heading back now. Ace." He looked to the Knight, who was still holding his daughter. "I'd like a word with you."

Though the group protested, they finally began walking home, dragging Alice with them on Blood's request. When they were out of sight, Blood turned to Ace, a mixture of annoyance and anger spreading on his face.

"I saw what you were doing."

"Oh?" Ace feigned innocence again. "Which parts?"

"Everything." The Hatter growled. "The strawberries, and the fireworks. What are you thinking?"

"Oh I don't know. Probably trying to make sure the kid has some sort of father figure in her life?"

Blood gripped his cane. "That's my role. Now give her back."

Ace took another step back. People started to stare. "Go ahead, but this was settled already. She wouldn't let go." A cocky grin spread across his face. "You don't want to wake her do you?"

"Why you-"

Clara whimpered in her sleep. Both role holders paused. "D…d…" she began to fidget. Before Ace could respond, Blood snatched her away from his arms. Almost immediately, the child wrapped her arms around his neck, and relaxed. In her dreams, her father had returned, and pulled her out from a dying rose bush.

Without another word, Blood walked away. The Faceless watched, as Blood Dupre ran reassuring fingers through his daughters hair, and disappeared into the night.

_'Damn the people, and what they think.'_

* * *

><p>Lost again, Ace was sitting on a log, looking up at the stars. He remembered being bored at the fair. He remembered finding Alice and Clara laughing, with no Blood in sight. He remembered glaring at the two, mostly at Alice.<p>

_' "You don't love me…" '_

Her old words echoed in his head both then and now. He was never given the chance. Years later, he looks back on the past, pondering what could have happened if he kept trying.

He thought she was right. He believed she was right. Clara came, and it started to change. He liked the kid, and he knew she liked him. A couple times he took her out camping, and she loved it. Alice had changed as well. She was more…fun. More willing to do crazy things, as long as it made Clara happy. If he knew she would change, then maybe…

Blood had Alice. Blood had Clara. Blood had everything. And he, Ace, was still lost.

Looking into the night sky, the lonely, angry, confused Bloody Knight thought aloud.

"Could they have both been mine?"

* * *

><p><strong>Because I'm too lazy to explain it again, I'm just copying and pasting!<strong>

_**I'm an Ace fan as well as a Blood fan. I've been reading a lot of Ace x Alice stuff, and I wanted to give him a bigger part in this story. As you may be able to see, this story isn't as light and campy as the summary made it out to be, and that's my bad. This story is both light and dark; some cute moments, and then some serious moments. And, embarrassingly enough, I forgot how dark and scary Ace was, and I'm not really doing him too much justice in this story.**_

_**Anyways, this is special, because I'm going to let you, yes YOU, the reviewers and readers decide on a chapter! What this means, is that I'm going to write the chapter with some things that would appear later in the story (don't worry, it's all stuff that will help Blood and Clara's relationship, as well the family as a whole). You guys get to decide if you like the chapter, and want this little story arc to continue (which I hope it does, because I kind of like this idea). BUT if you guys don't like it, and just want the original chapter, which isn't as long, then I'll take this one down, and put that up instead, and continue with the story. I'll put the chapter up again after the story is finished as a special bonus for those who did like it. **_

_**So I'm putting this up today. Tomorrow night, the special chapter will come up, and there will be a poll as well. I'll explain things again in the beginning and end of the chapter. Then you guys shall have till Tuesday to vote on whether you want it to stay, or go!**_

**I love that, so much easier. Anyways, the poll is actually going up tomorrow because I'm tired. But please review (nice reviews, but if you disagree, say why, but put it nicely :D )**

**VOTE AND REVIEW! CLOSING ON TUESDAY! ...please vote yes I worked really hard on this. and this won't take up the enitre story, just some chapters for those who have always wanted a blood and ace showdown. don't lie, many of you have been waiting for this! XD**

**Thank you for waiting!**

**~serima**


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